Ngo Dinh Diem, the first President of the Republic of Vietnam, possessed the Confucian "Mandate of Heaven," a moral and political authority that was widely recognized by all Vietnamese.
J., Professor Emeritus, Georgetown University "Did I find a veritable Conradian \'Heart of Darkness\'? Yes, I did, but it was.
Schall, S.
Overwhelming evidence supports it." From the Foreword by James V.
The Vietnam War need not have been lost.
Particularly agonizing for Americans who read this clearly stated and tightly argued book is the fact that the final Vietnam defeat was not really on battle grounds, but on political and moral grounds. "A candid account of the killing of Ngo Dinh Diem, the reasons for it, who was responsible, why it happened, and the disastrous results.
From eyewitness accounts of military, intelligence, and diplomatic sources, Shaw draws the portrait of a man with rare integrity, a patriot who strove to free his country from Western colonialism while protecting it from Communism.
Along the way, Shaw reveals a President Diem very different from the despot portrayed by the press during its coverage of Vietnam. government, Shaw chronicles the Kennedy administration\'s Betrayal of this ally, which proved to be not only a moral failure but also a political disaster that led America into a protracted and costly war.
S.
Based on his research of original sources, including declassified documents of the U.
The Kennedy Administration, they argue, had to withdraw its support of Diem.
According to many American historians, President Diem was a corrupt leader whose tyrannical actions Lost him the loyalty of his people and the possibility of a military victory over the North Vietnamese.
The commonly held view runs contrary to the above assertion by military historian Geoffrey Shaw. government, which resulted in his brutal murder.
S.
This devout Roman Catholic leader never Lost this Mandate in the eyes of his people; rather, he was taken down by a military coup sponsored by the U.
Ngo Dinh Diem, the first President of the Republic of Vietnam, possessed the Confucian "Mandate of Heaven," a moral and political authority that was widely recognized by all Vietnamese
