Bùi Diễm Explained

Bùi Diễm
Birth Place:Phủ Lý, Hà Nam, French Indochina
Birth Date:1 October 1923
Death Place:Rockville, Maryland, U.S.
Office:South Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States
Term Start:19 January 1967[1]
Term End:1972[2]
Predecessor:Vũ Văn Thái
Successor:Trần Kim Phượng
President:Nguyễn Văn Thiệu

Bùi Diễm (1 October 1923[3] – 24 October 2021) was South Vietnam's ambassador to the United States under President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu from 1965 to 1972,[4] [5] then re-appointed ambassador-at-large and served until 1975. He played a key role in the last desperate attempt to secure US$700 million in military aid to defend South Vietnam against the North in 1975.

Bui Diem was born in Phủ Lý, Hà Nam, French Indochina, on October 1, 1923. He was the nephew of Trần Trọng Kim, who served as the Prime Minister of Emperor Bảo Đại.[6] Diem had been active in politics since he studied at Pomelo School and joined the Nationalist Party of Greater Vietnam in 1944 through the introduction of a friend.[7] [8] At age 31, Bui Diem became a member of the delegation to the 1954 Geneva Conference. He also founded the Saigon Post newspaper in South Vietnam, which operated from 1963 to 1975,[9] [10] and was a member of the negotiating team appointed by President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu at the Paris Peace Accords.[11] In 1973, concerned about the threat of the United States Congress to cut off spending for the Vietnam War, Diem was sent by President Thieu as a delegation to Washington to set out South Vietnam's position on the peace talks.[12]

Bui Diem and Anna Chennault acted as intermediaries between President Thieu and Richard Nixon in the "Anna Chennault Affair" to delay peace negotiations in Paris,[13] [14] creating an opportunity to help then-republican candidate Nixon win the 1968 United States presidential election.[15] President Johnson knew this entire plan,[16] he forced the FBI, CIA, and NSA to monitor Diem and Anna's activities.[17] [18] For his part, Bui Diem repeatedly denied making any deals with the Nixon campaign to sabotage the peace talks.[19]

After the fall of Saigon in 1975, he settled in the United States, living in Rockville, Maryland, and running a Jewish delicatessen.[20] He wrote articles and worked for the RAND Corporation, then borrowed money and was a part- owner of Goldberg's Delly in downtown Washington until 1982.[21]

He was a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and at the American Enterprise Institute,[22] as well as a research professor at George Mason University.[23] Bui Diem was interviewed by Stanley Karnow for, where he recounts in a stunning allegation that Lyndon B. Johnson had unilaterally deployed Marine ground troops into South Vietnam without consulting the South Vietnamese government.[24]

Bui Diem was the author of the book In the Jaws of History (1987),[25] and appeared as a witness in Ken Burns's series The Vietnam War, produced by PBS in 2017.[26] [27] He had three children, two daughters and a son.[28] Diem spoke fluent English and French.[29] He died in Rockville, Maryland, on 24 October 2021, at the age of 98.[30]

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: New South Vietnamese Ambassador To Us Bui Diem Presents His Credentialls To LBJ . . 30 November 2007 . 12 January 2024 . 12 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112081445/https://newsroom.ap.org/editorial-photos-videos/detail?itemid=2b302b770d92f453490ffadd2adc87ba . live.
  2. Web site: The Kissinger-Le Duc Tho Negotiations . . 12 January 2024 . 12 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112111403/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v42/persons . live.
  3. Web site: Biographic Report, Republic of Vietnam - Bui Diem - CIA Research Reports . . 29 January 1965 . 12 January 2024 . 12 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112083245/https://vva.vietnam.ttu.edu/images.php?img=/images/F0291/F029100040705.pdf . live.
  4. Web site: Opinion How Not to 'Win Hearts and Minds' . George C. . Herring . . 19 September 2017 . 12 January 2024 . 12 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112111040/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/19/opinion/vietnam-war-americans-culture.html . live.
  5. Web site: Late Vietnam: Loyalty to Whom? . Kenneth . Hagan . . April 1998 . 12 January 2024 . 12 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112111513/https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/1998/april/late-vietnam-loyalty-whom . live.
  6. Web site: Exhibits - Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) . . 12 January 2024 . 12 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112100456/https://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/exhibits/apahm/ . live.
  7. Web site: Phỏng Vấn Bùi Diễm . Hùng . Nguyễn Mạnh . . vi . November 16, 2022 . January 13, 2024 . January 13, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240113024450/https://usvietnam.uoregon.edu/phong-van-bui-diem/ . live.
  8. Web site: Politically Significant Groups in South Vietnam . . May 4, 1966 . January 13, 2024 . January 13, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240113070648/https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP79T00826A000600010052-2.pdf . live.
  9. Web site: The Saigon post Library of Congress . . 12 January 2024 . 12 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112093845/https://www.loc.gov/item/sn97058200/ . live.
  10. Web site: The Saigon post - Catalogue . . 12 January 2024 . 12 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112094147/https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/2900851 . live.
  11. Web site: January 13, 2024. January 13, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240113034633/https://www.bbc.com/vietnamese/vietnam/2013/01/130118_paris_1973_today_views. January 22, 2013. vi. Hòa đàm Paris: VN và các cường quốc. live. BBC.
  12. Web site: Saigon Senators to Lobby in Washington . Fox Butterfield Special . . January 5, 1973 . January 12, 2024 . January 12, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112194311/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/05/archives/saigon-senators-to-lobby-in-washington-others-on-way-to-us.html . live.
  13. Web site: Nixon 'wrecked early peace in Vietnam' . Martin . Kettle . . August 9, 2000 . January 13, 2024 . January 13, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240113102619/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/aug/09/martinkettle1 . live.
  14. Serving the President III-The Vietnam Years . Clark . Clifford . Richard . Holbrooke . . May 12, 1991 . January 13, 2024 . January 13, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240113232204/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1991/05/20/serving-the-president-iii-the-vietnam-years . live.
  15. News: The national security adviser who colluded with foreign powers — decades before Michael Flynn . Shane . O’Sullivan . . December 26, 2018 . January 12, 2024 . January 12, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112193943/https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/12/26/national-security-adviser-who-colluded-with-foreign-powers-decades-before-michael-flynn/ . live.
  16. Web site: When a Candidate Conspired With a Foreign Power to Win An Election . John A. . Farrell . . August 6, 2017 . January 13, 2024 . January 13, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240113085820/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/06/nixon-vietnam-candidate-conspired-with-foreign-power-win-election-215461/ . live.
  17. Web site: Memo to Nixon detailed his campaign's interference in Paris peace talks . Ray . Locker . . May 28, 2015 . January 13, 2024 . January 13, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240113231105/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/05/28/nixon-huston-johnson-chennault-bombing-halt/28035307/ . live.
  18. Web site: The real parallel between Nixon and Trump: backdoor pre-election contacts with a foreign power . John A. . Farrell . . July 19, 2017 . January 13, 2024 . January 13, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240113103605/https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/7/19/15994924/nixon-trump-vietnam-russia-historical-parallels . live.
  19. Web site: The Anna Chennault Affair: The South Vietnamese Side of the War's Greatest Conspiracy Theory . George J. . Veith . . May 9, 2022 . January 13, 2024 . January 13, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240113091252/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/anna-chennault-affair-south-vietnamese-side-wars-greatest-conspiracy-theory . live.
  20. Web site: Saigon Aide: 'They Say, How Are You, Mr. Goldberg?' . Lynn . Rosellini . . September 15, 1981 . January 12, 2024 . January 12, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112193133/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/15/us/saigon-aide-they-say-how-are-you-mr-goldberg.html . live.
  21. Web site: Briefing . James F. . Clarity . Warren . Weaver Jr. . . January 5, 1984 . January 13, 2024 . January 13, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240113083929/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/05/us/briefing-154901.html . live.
  22. Web site: Reliving Vietnam: The Next Wave : Vietnamese Voice Begins to Emerge in Books on War . Elizabeth . Mehren . . 4 August 1987 . 12 January 2024 . 12 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112095234/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-08-04-vw-1254-story.html . live.
  23. Web site: Washington Talk: Bui Diem; a Voice From Vietnam Hoping to Be Heard . Barbara . Gamarekian . . 26 October 1987 . 12 January 2024 . 12 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112083636/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/26/us/washington-talk-bui-diem-a-voice-from-vietnam-hoping-to-be-heard.html . live.
  24. Web site: Vietnam: A Television History; Vietnamizing the War (1968 - 1973); Interview with Bui Diem [1], 1981 ]. . 3 June 1981 . 12 January 2024 . 12 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112093009/https://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_C7D27730D41E4E18A2E45F7E17899A94 . live.
  25. Web site: Vietnam: What Might Have Been . subscription . Alan . Tonelson . . 13 September 1987 . 12 January 2024 . 12 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112080704/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/13/books/vietnam-what-might-have-been.html . live.
  26. Web site: THE VIETNAM WAR - A Film By Ken Burns & Lynn Novick . Jennifer . Robinson . . 17 August 2017 . 12 January 2024 . 12 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112092006/https://www.kpbs.org/news/arts-culture/2017/08/17/vietnam-war . live.
  27. Web site: Episode 1: Déjà Vu (1858-1961) The Vietnam War: A Film by Ken Burns & Lynn Novick . . 12 January 2024 . 12 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112092041/https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-vietnam-war/episode-1 . live.
  28. Web site: BUI DIEM Obituary (1923 - 2021) - Washington, DC . . . 31 October 2021 . 12 January 2024 . 12 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112082025/https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/washingtonpost/name/bui-diem-obituary?id=31208194 . live.
  29. Web site: (Est Pub Date) Bui Diem Viet-nam . . 12 January 2024 . 12 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112085040/https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000196417.pdf . live.
  30. Web site: Cựu Đại sứ VNCH Bùi Diễm qua đời là 'mất mát to lớn không gì thay thế' . Phương . Quốc . vi . . 25 October 2021 . 12 January 2024 . 12 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240112103432/https://www.bbc.com/vietnamese/vietnam-59040559 . live.

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