Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Triumph Forsaken
- Southeast Asia
- Map of Indochina
- Map of South Vietnam (Communist)
- Map of South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam)
- 1 Heritage
- 2 Two Vietnams: July 1954–December 1955
- 3 Peaceful Coexistence: 1956–1959
- 4 Insurgency: 1960
- 5 Commitment: 1961
- 6 Rejuvenation: January–June 1962
- 7 Attack: July–December 1962
- 8 The Battle of Ap Bac: January 1963
- 9 Diem on Trial: February–July 1963
- 10 Betrayal: August 1963
- 11 Self-Destruction: September–November 2, 1963
- 12 The Return of the Twelve Warlords: November 3–December 1963
- 13 Self-Imposed Restrictions: January–July 1964
- 14 Signals: August–October 1964
- 15 Invasion: November–December 1964
- 16 The Prize for Victory: January–May 1965
- 17 Decision: June–July 1965
- Abbreviations Used in Notes
- Notes
- Index
- Plate section
10 - Betrayal: August 1963
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Triumph Forsaken
- Southeast Asia
- Map of Indochina
- Map of South Vietnam (Communist)
- Map of South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam)
- 1 Heritage
- 2 Two Vietnams: July 1954–December 1955
- 3 Peaceful Coexistence: 1956–1959
- 4 Insurgency: 1960
- 5 Commitment: 1961
- 6 Rejuvenation: January–June 1962
- 7 Attack: July–December 1962
- 8 The Battle of Ap Bac: January 1963
- 9 Diem on Trial: February–July 1963
- 10 Betrayal: August 1963
- 11 Self-Destruction: September–November 2, 1963
- 12 The Return of the Twelve Warlords: November 3–December 1963
- 13 Self-Imposed Restrictions: January–July 1964
- 14 Signals: August–October 1964
- 15 Invasion: November–December 1964
- 16 The Prize for Victory: January–May 1965
- 17 Decision: June–July 1965
- Abbreviations Used in Notes
- Notes
- Index
- Plate section
Summary
“i cannot seem to convince the embassy that this is vietnam – not the United States of America,” said Diem at the beginning of August 1963. His conversation partner was a reporter from the New York Herald Tribune named Marguerite Higgins. The first female war correspondent to win the Pulitzer Prize, Higgins had become a celebrity through her daring reporting during the Inchon landing. Many of the other reporters covering Vietnam did not care for Higgins, as they resented her reluctance to collaborate with them, her willingness to criticize them, and her continued admiration for Diem. Higgins was to talk with South Vietnam's leader for five hours in the oppressive afternoon heat. Diem, clad in his white sharkskin suit, sat baking in a deep chair the entire time. Occasionally he toyed with a tiny cup of green tea. Otherwise, the President remained remarkably still and calm, like a mountain unmoved by the fury of tempests and floods. The strains of recent months had taken their toll on Diem nonetheless, as evidenced by a plump and pinkish appearance. Higgins later remarked, “It was hard to imagine him as the revolutionary who had exhorted his people upon assuming power in 1954: ‘If I advance, follow me! If I retreat, kill me! If I die, avenge me!’” Diem's superb intellect, however, had not been dulled.
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- Information
- Triumph ForsakenThe Vietnam War, 1954–1965, pp. 229 - 243Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006