LBJ Americanizes the War (1964-1965), Part 4

Question 1: Discuss the succession of presidents in South Vietnam following the overthrowing of Ngo Dinh Diem.

Answer 1: South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem’s first successor, ARVN general Duong Van Minh, was in power in South Vietnam from only November 1, 1963, to January 30, 1964, when he and his government were overthrown in a bloodless coup led by ARVN general Nguyen Khanh. Subsequently, Khanh’s presidential power was relinquished on September 26, 1964, when Phan Kac Suu was elected president by the Military Revolutionary Council, although Khanh retained power without title through the military. Suu’s successor, Nguyen Van Thieu, was elected president in September 1967, but his administration was reportedly corrupt. He held the presidency until April 21, 1975, when he passed the presidency to his vice president, Tran Van Huong, who likewise relinquished the position to Duong Van Minh on April 28. Both Thieu and Huong fled the country when it became clear that the North Vietnamese would win the Vietnam War. Minh would surrender his position two days later to the North Vietnamese.

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Question 2: Discuss the effects that Ngo Dinh Diem’s assassination had on North Vietnam and the Vietcong.

Answer 2: The death of Ngo Dinh Diem was a major turning point in the Vietnam War for both the Vietcong and North Vietnam. While the United States was supporting and advising South Vietnam during the war, its concerns were focused on the military aspects of the conflict rather than the political ramifications the conflict wrought. As the Vietcong was a communist organization with a communist agenda and was supported and supplied by the communist North, the death of communism’s most powerful opponent in South Vietnam was exceptionally damaging for the United States’ containment efforts. While General Paul Harkins, the commanding officer of U.S. forces in South Vietnam, predicted that the conflict would be resolved by Christmas 1963, only seven weeks after Diem’s death, the CIA realized the hold the communists had in rural regions of the country, intensified its efforts, and correctly predicted that the conflict was far from over.

Question 3: Describe MACV-SOG.

Answer 3: MACV-SOG, short for “Military Assistance Command, Vietnam–Studies and Observations Group,” was a classified U.S. military task force that conducted covert actions against North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was established on January 24, 1964, by the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a component of the preexisting MACV formed two years earlier in response to America’s involvement in the South Vietnam insurgency. MACV-SOG consisted of members from a variety of military branches, a necessity due to a variety of intended operations on land, sea, and air. Its intended purpose was to subversively weaken North Vietnam’s influence, with secrecy being essential, as U.S. forces had no authority outside of South Vietnam. MACV-SOG had a shaky start; complications in its hierarchy and membership stalled its intended operations for several months. By August 1964, however, it was up and running, as evidenced by its involvement in the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. It would continue to operate in many campaigns throughout the Vietnam War until it was disbanded in 1972.

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