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Ngô Đình Diệm, -viŋo ɗîɲ zjə̂ˀmpron, -viɗîn jə̃ˀmsNgoDinhDiem.ogg, (January 3, 1901 � November 2, 1963) was the first president of South Vietnam (1955 � 1963). In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a 1955 plebiscite that was widely considered fraudulent. Proclaiming himself the Republic's first President, he demonstrated considerable political skill in the consolidation of his power, and his rule proved authoritarian, elitist, nepotistic, and corrupt. A Roman Catholic, Diệm pursued policies that rankled and oppressed the Republic's Montagnard natives and its Buddhist majority. Amid religious protests that garnered worldwide attention, Diệm lost the backing of his U.S. patrons and was assassinated by Nguyen Van Nhung, the aide of ARVN General Duong Van Minh on November 2, 1963, during a coup d'état that deposed his government.
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