The Assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem

After the incident in Saigon, the killing and arrests of many Buddhist bonzes, and the arrests of 4,000 students from Saigon University, the Kennedy Administration was looking to support a new South Vietnamese government. In Early November, a military group led by General Duong Van Minh held a U.S.-backed coup and overthrew Diem, killing both him and his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu. On November 2, 1963, the Ngo Dinh’s were taken into custody and killed at point blank range. Many believed that this crisis would lead to American withdrawal of involvement in Vietnam, but 20 days later, Kennedy was shot, leaving Johnson to decide the rest of American policy, in which he called for further participation in Vietnam.