The Selling of Ngo Dinh Diem, 1954-1961
Date
1998
Authors
Curtis, David Christopher George
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Abstract
The systematic promotion in the United States of Ngo Dinh Diem's leadership of South Vietnam between 1955 and 1960, a promotion by the Government of South Vietnam, the domestic American Vietnam Lobby and several members of the State Department and Central Intelligence Agency, reflected a coordinated effort to influence Eisenhower administration policy. Principally conducted by the American Friends of Vietnam under the guidance of the public relations firm Oram, promotion of Diem was intended to mobilize both American popular and policy making audiences on behalf of South Vietnam's leadership. Applying sophisticated public relations campaigns focused upon the American media and the foreign policy community, Diem's advocates succeeded in casting him, by 1957, as a popular and successful Asian "miracle man". However, premised upon idealized characterizations of his leadership at odds with South Vietnamese conditions, Diem's promotion amongst increasingly disillusioned American audiences became untenable and ultimately a liability to the continued security of his regime.