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South Vietnamese diplomat (1923–2021) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.[6] 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.[7]
Bùi Diễm | |
---|---|
![]() Bùi Diễm in 1940 | |
South Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States | |
In office 19 January 1967[1] – 1972[2] | |
President | Nguyễn Văn Thiệu |
Preceded by | Vũ Văn Thái |
Succeeded by | Trần Kim Phượng |
Personal details | |
Born | Phủ Lý, Hà Nam, French Indochina | 1 October 1923
Died | 24 October 2021 98) Rockville, Maryland, U.S. | (aged
Bui Diem was born in Phủ Lý, Hà Nam, French Indochina, on October 1, 1923.[8] He was the nephew of Trần Trọng Kim, who served as the Prime Minister of Emperor Bảo Đại.[9] 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.[10][11] At age 31, Bui Diem became a member of the delegation to the 1954 Geneva Conference.[8] He also founded the Saigon Post newspaper in South Vietnam, which operated from 1963 to 1975,[12][13] and was a member of the negotiating team appointed by President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu at the Paris Peace Accords.[14] 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.[15]
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,[16][17] creating an opportunity to help then-republican candidate Nixon win the 1968 United States presidential election.[18] President Johnson knew this entire plan,[19] he forced the FBI, CIA, and NSA to monitor Diem and Anna's activities.[20][21] For his part, Bui Diem repeatedly denied making any deals with the Nixon campaign to sabotage the peace talks.[22]
After the fall of Saigon in 1975, he settled in the United States, living in Rockville, Maryland, and running a Jewish delicatessen.[23] 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.[6]
He was a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and at the American Enterprise Institute,[24] as well as a research professor at George Mason University.[7] Bui Diem was interviewed by Stanley Karnow for Vietnam: A Television History, 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.[25]
Bui Diem was the author of the book In the Jaws of History (1987),[26] and appeared as a witness in Ken Burns's series The Vietnam War, produced by PBS in 2017.[27][28] He had three children, two daughters and a son.[8] Diem spoke fluent English and French.[29] He died in Rockville, Maryland, on 24 October 2021, at the age of 98.[30]
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