November 2, 1963: Coup d'Etat in South Vietnam
A conspiracy to remove a sitting president was under way several weeks before Dallas
As we near the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, JFK Facts is looking back at key moments in the lead-up to JFK’s killing.
On this day 60 years ago, a group of senior officers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) assassinated President Ngô Đình Diệm and his brother/top adviser Ngô Đình Nhu. Diệm had issued a handwritten proclamation the day before, demanding that the Army follow his orders.
The ARVN generals and colonels, led by Gen. Dương Văn Minh (known as “Big Minh”) and Trần Văn Đôn, and had become increasingly critical of Diệm, especially after a lethal crackdown on Buddhist monks protesting against the regime in August. “Big Minh” had communicated to U.S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge and his deputy the possibility of assassinating Diem.
