In an opinion piece published by the New York Daily News, Edward Miller, an associate professor of history, writes that as Americans commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of President John F. Kennedy, they’d do well to remember also the death of the leader of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, who was murdered during an army coup just three weeks before Kennedy was assassinated.
“The story of Diem’s downfall is replete with both historical irony and tragedy. Although Kennedy approved the coup, he did so amid grave uncertainty over what course to take in Vietnam and despite his personal admiration for Diem,” Miller writes.
“Fifty years later, the rise and fall of the U.S.-Diem alliance illustrates several key historical problems that remain highly relevant to America’s relations with its Third World allies,” he says.
Read the full opinion piece, published 11/20/13 by the New York Daily News.