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Diem graduates from school and enters public service, starting as a low-grade mandarin then rising quickly in the ranks.

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1929 - Diem helped The French to root out communists

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1929 - Diem helped The French to root out communists

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When the communists staged demonstrations throughout Vietnam, Diem filed a report with the colonial government detailing communist maneuvers. The French rewarded Diem, promoting him to governor of the province of Phan Thiet.

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May 1933 - Diem becomes Minister of the Interior

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May 1933 - Diem becomes Minister of the Interior

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With French support, Diem is promoted to Minister of the Interior, the most important position in Emperor Bao Dai's cabinet.

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March 1945 - Diem rejected the premiership of a puppet regime under his old sovereign

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March 1945 - Diem rejected the premiership of a puppet regime under his old sovereign

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Diem turned down this request, probably because he recognized that the new Vietnamese government would lack any real independence.

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February 1946 - Ho talked to Diem at the Viet Mirth headquarters.

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February 1946 - Ho talked to Diem at the Viet Mirth headquarters.

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Ho offered Diem the post of minister of the interior, the same job he had held under Bao Dai. Diem refused because he disagree with Ho's political ideologies

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November 1946 - Diem escaped from Ho's capture

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November 1946 - Diem escaped from Ho's capture

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French infantry and armored divisions re-occupied Vietnam in November 1946, diverting Ho's attention from Diem

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mid-January 1951 - Diem impressed the U.S. in his interview

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mid-January 1951 - Diem impressed the U.S. in his interview

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Diem said that if the U.S. does not intervene, there would be a domino effect in neighboring nations by turning them into communist countries. Also, Diem insisted that France's "Bao Dai solution" will hand Indochina to the Viet Minh.

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Vietnam was divided into two temporary political entities with Diem and Bao Dai being a leader in South Vietnam and Ho in North Vietnam

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August 1954 - Over two hundred thousand refugees fled to South Vietnam

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August 1954 - Over two hundred thousand refugees fled to South Vietnam

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Diem did not expect this many refugees. So, he was unsure if he had enough resources to handle all of them. Most Catholics moved to South Vietnam because Diem was also a Catholic

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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1954~1955 - Lansdale’s psywar's tactics to convince citizens to move to South Vietnam

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1954~1955 - Lansdale’s psywar's tactics to convince citizens to move to South Vietnam

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Lansdale’s psywar team spread rumors about how the Viet Minh allowed two divisions of Chinese troops to circulate throughout North Vietnam and cause harm to the Vietnamese people and that the U.S. will launch an offensive to liberate the north. Also, Lansdale hired soothsayers to predict disaster under communist rule and made it seems like Catholics can not survive in the north

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1956 - Diem won the election with the help of propaganda

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1956 - Diem won the election with the help of propaganda

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Before the election, Diem posted a biased question to the voters as anti-Bao Dai propaganda. Also, Diem on his ballots depicted him as youthful while Bao Dai was depicted as a messy person. These factors contributed to his success in election.

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1956 - The constitution gave Diem absolute leadership power over the nation. 

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1956 - The constitution gave Diem absolute leadership power over the nation. 

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Diem can issue or change laws, dismiss officers without talking with the legislature, declare emergencies, and suspend liberals movements..

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Late 1950s - Nhu founded a political party to help Diem

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Late 1950s - Nhu founded a political party to help Diem

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Prior to Diem's return to South Vietnam, Nhu had founded a political party, the Can Lao Nhan Vi Cach Mang Dang, or Revolutionary Workers' Party, to mobilize support for his older brother.

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Nhu was the political counselor and employed as an archivist in the imperial library at Hue. Also, he was virtually the only person to whom Diem would listen.

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January 1955 - First land ordinances proclaimed by Diem

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January 1955 - First land ordinances proclaimed by Diem

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Diem declared that landlords could collect no more than 25 percent of a farmer's crop. Rents could be higher if the landlord furnished supplies like fertilizer. Diem also gave tenants the right to farm abandoned or uncultivated land.

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January 1955 - Diem using the CIP as a means of financing his military forces.

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January 1955 - Diem using the CIP as a means of financing his military forces.

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The CIP was more favorable than directly injecting the South Vietnamese economy with money because it prevented inflation. The U.S. wanted to use the CIP to help South Vietnam's economy, but it did not achieve its purpose. The majority of CIP assistance went to fund the Army of the Republic of Vietnam

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January 1956 - Diem issued Ordinance No. 6

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January 1956 - Diem issued Ordinance No. 6

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Ordinance No. 6 removed almost all restrictions on officials combating political opponents.

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1956 - Can Lao gained more power in South Vietnam

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1956 - Can Lao gained more power in South Vietnam

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Can Lao personnel controlled every facet of the administrative apparatus of South Vietnam, spying on potential traitors, pressuring government and army officials to join the party, and using torture and assassination to stifle dissent.

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1956 - Diem refused to hold the 1956 all-Vietnam elections 

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1956 - Diem refused to hold the 1956 all-Vietnam elections 

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Diem said that he doesn't want to submit the fate of his people under communist control. Also, he did not want to show that he accepted the legitimacy of the Geneva Accords and Ho Chi Minh's regime.

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1956 - Government officials forced candidates to withdraw from elections

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1956 - Government officials forced candidates to withdraw from elections

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Newspapers were not permitted to publish the names of independent candidates or reveal anything about those candidates' political positions. The Public Meetings Law prevented candidates from speaking to groups of more than five people. Many candidates were disqualified for the presentation of their posters. In the provinces, government officials threatened candidates with arrest if they did not withdraw from the elections.

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Diem forced the Chinese residents to register for Vietnamese nationality cards and warned that failure to do so would result in liquidation of their businesses. Diem's regime promotes Catholicism through its policies by giving Catholics more freedom, rights, and resources. So, more people converted to Catholicism to have more advantages.

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August 1959 - Dr. Phan Quang Dan won the elections for the national assembly.

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August 1959 - Dr. Phan Quang Dan won the elections for the national assembly.

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Despite Diem's sending eight thousand ARVN troops in plainclothes to vote against Dan, Dan won the election. When Dan attempted to take his seat, police arrested him on charges of fraud.

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Madame Nhu pushed a new Family Law to protect the South Vietnamese woman against a philandering husband or other members of the opposite sex. Madame Nhu's goal was to solidify the status of the South Vietnamese woman. A new version of this law continued the trend of equality without using extreme measures.

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26 April 1960 - Caravelle Group made the letter public at a press conference.

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26 April 1960 - Caravelle Group made the letter public at a press conference.

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The Caravellle Group is a group of eighteen South Vietnamese politicians who coauthored a letter to the president demanding reforms. Journalists from many nations, including the United States, heard a list of grievances that implied that conditions in South Vietnam were worse than when Diem assumed office. These complains includes arrest, reduced public opinion, and favoritism based on family connections.

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20 December 1960 - The National Liberation Front (NLF), was formed at Xom Giua. 

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20 December 1960 - The National Liberation Front (NLF), was formed at Xom Giua. 

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This organization grew out of a decision taken three months earlier at the Third Party Congress of the Communist Party in North Vietnam. After six years of trying to unify the country primarily through political means, the party did not support having a war against the U.S. imperialists and Diem.

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Diem's government planned to construct eighty agrovilles, each designed for four hundred families and offering schools, hospitals, markets, and other amenities. Diem hoped to raise the standard of living for the average South Vietnamese peasant and stimulate peasant support for Diem. However, the peasants disapproved the agroville campaign because they did not want to leave their home land. Also, those who agreed to be resettled were disappointed by the agrovilles

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The US and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces had helicopter gunships, M-113 armored personnel carriers, fighter bombers, and other high-tech equipment. But, the officers of the ARVN were unwilling to fight. This internal conflict allowed the VC to have the upper side.

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June 11th, 1963 - The Thich Quang Duc’s protest

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June 11th, 1963 - The Thich Quang Duc’s protest

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The Thich Quang Duc’s protest of the Diem regime occurred on the road outside the Cambodian legation. Thich Quang Duc burned himself to death while 350 monks and nuns prevented others from interfering. He burned himself for the Buddhist population's request to Diem.

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1963 - Diem and Madame Nhu's response to the Buddhist crisis

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1963 - Diem and Madame Nhu's response to the Buddhist crisis

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Diem responded to further Buddhist demonstrations during the summer of 1963 with violence and blamed everything on the VC. Madame Nhu made it clear that she does not want to give the Buddhist the resources they requested. The U.S. was not satisfied by their responses.

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Mid 1963 - The U.S. Ambassador, Henry Cabot Lodge, tries to unseat Diem

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Mid 1963 - The U.S. Ambassador, Henry Cabot Lodge, tries to unseat Diem

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After the pagoda raids, the new US ambassador changed his approach of dealing with the Diem regime to giving the ARVN support to unseat Diem by carrying out a coup. However, An obstacle that the ARVN generals face in carrying out a coup is that government officials were too afraid to betray Diem.

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Mid 1963 - Other countries wanting to unite Vietnam

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Mid 1963 - Other countries wanting to unite Vietnam

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France had announced that they would support any treaty that resulted in Vietnam's internal peace. The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China pressured North Vietnam to accept the peach agreement by threatened to use North Vietnam as the battlefield in a USSR-PRC war.

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September 2nd, 1963 - JFK's response to the situation in Vietnam

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September 2nd, 1963 - JFK's response to the situation in Vietnam

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During Kennedy's television interview with Walter Cronkite, he said that South Vietnam needs to change its policies to win popularity. If no change is made, it would be hard for the government to win support.

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November 2nd, 1963 - The assassination of Diem

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November 2nd, 1963 - The assassination of Diem

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People were celebrating All Souls' Day, the day of the dead. And Diem entered the church to pray and take communion. He then got assassinated an hour later, during which the coup was active. The people of South Vietnam seemed overjoyed to learn that Diem had fallen, and celebrations broke out all over Saigon