digenous people to understand why he did the things that he did. Khiem’s reasons for respecting and admiring Ngo Dinh Diem will be examined and contrasted with the opposition’s views. According to historians, the entire Diem reign can be summed up in a few words: corruption, repression, and alienation. Corruption marked Diem’s rule from the very beginning. With the help of Ed Lansdale, CIA agent and chief American advisor to Diem, elections were held in 1955 to formally place Diem at the head of the South Vietnam government as Chief of State. The choices on the ballot were hardly fair. Citizens had the choice of either Ngo Dinh Diem or Bao Dai. The latter was hardly a formidable opponent. A powerless symbol of Vietnam’s past, the last emperor, Bao Dai was seen as only a figurehead and a puppet of the former French regime that ruled Vietnam for over one hundred years. Lansdale noted to Diem, “I said, all you need is a fairly large majority,” (Young) but the rigged election gave Diem an overwhelming 98.2 percent of the voters. Out of a total 450,000 registered voters, Diem received a dashing 605,000 votes.Diem’s first agenda was to arrest thousands of suspected Viet Cong. This raised much fear for Diem in the cities and the countryside. People were rounded up, interrogated (which usually involved beating), and possibly executed. In late 1955 Diem set out to act against former Vietminh activists. Diem issued law 10/59 in 1959 that stated: “ Sentence of death, and confiscation of the whole or part of his property, . . . will be imposed on whoever commits or attempts to commit one of the following crimes with the aim of sabotage, or upon infringing upon the security of the State, or injuring the lives or property of the people: 1.Deliberate murder, food poisoning, or kidnapping. 2.Destruction, or total or partial damaging, of one of the following categories of objects by means of explosives, f...
