"IT WAS A GREAT SHOCK TO EVERYBODY"

SOUTH VIETNAM PRESIDENT & BROTHER KILLED IN MILITARY COUP

Saigon, South Vietnam (JFK+50) On November 2, 1963, Ngo Dinh Diem, President of South Vietnam, was killed in a military coup along with his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu.

The pair were captured at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church after escaping the presidential palace through an underground tunnel.  They then were both shot to death. 

The United States State Department denied involvement in the overthrow the the Diems.

President John F. Kennedy was informed of the deaths at a cabinet meeting.  JFK rushed out of the room with a look of shock and dismay on his face.

Assistant Secretary of State Averell Harriman said, "It was a great shock to everybody."

JFK+50 NOTE

According to a dictabelt recording made by JFK on Nov 4 1963, talk of a coup in SV had taken place over a 3 month period.  Ultimately the topic divided the Kennedy administration with generally the Dept of State supporting the coup and the Dept of Defense opposing it.  

The question was what was most beneficial for U.S. interests in the region, continuing to support a flawed SV government under Diem or supporting a coup which might or might not result in an improved situation.  Although JFK felt the situation in SV had worsened recently, he admired Diem's leadership in preventing a communist takeover during his tenure.

JFK admits on the recording that his government bore "a good deal" of responsibility for the coup.  He was especially disturbed by the manner in which the Diem brothers died.  Ironically, this was just weeks before JFK himself would be the victim of assassination.

SOURCES

"JFK and the Diem Coup," by John Prados, The National Security Archive, 2003. 

"The Diem Coup," UVA, Miller Center, www.millercenter.org/

 

 

St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church

Photo by Bui Thuy Dao Nguyen

2008

 

NUCLEAR TEST BAN TREATY

NUCLEAR TEST BAN AGREEMENT ANNOUNCED 51 YEARS AGO TODAY

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy announced on July 26, 1963, fifty-one years ago today, that an agreement had been reached in Moscow on a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty*.

The President, speaking to an evening national television audience, said:

"Yesterday a shaft of light cut into the darkness.  Negotiations were concluded in Moscow on a treaty that will ban all nuclear tests in the air, outer space and under water."

The President concluded with these words:

"Let us...step back from the shadows of war and seek out the way of peace.  And if that journey is a thousand miles, let history record, that we, in this land, at this time, took the first step."

JFK Announces Test Ban Agreement

July 26, 1963

JFK Library Photo

According to the JFK Library, work toward a nuclear test ban treaty began in May 1955 when the United Nations Disarmament Committee brought together Canada, France, UK, US, and USSR for discussions.

As a United States Senator, John F. Kennedy supported a nuclear test ban beginning in 1956.

After a moratorium on testing, the Soviet Union announced resumption and conducted 31 nuclear tests over the next 90 day period including the explosion of a 58 megaton hydrogen bomb, 4000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.

Speaking to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept 25, 1961, President Kennedy said...

"The weapons of war must be abolished, before they abolish us."

JFK, who reluctantly approved resumption of atomic testing by the United States on April 25, 1962, was able to announce in his speech at American University on June 10, 1963 that a new round of negotiations with the Soviets had begun in Moscow.

JFK said...

"If we cannot end our differences...at least we can help make the world safe...for diversity."

The biggest snag in negotiations on limiting nuclear testing going back to 1955 was the reluctance of the Soviet Union to approve inspections to verify underground nuclear tests.

The American negotiation team in Moscow, led by Averell Harriman**, carefully avoided proposing a limitation on underground testing, thus removing previous objections by the USSR.

Although the treaty was "limited" JFK considered it his greatest achievement as President.  It has been ratified by most nations. 

*The Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed in Moscow on Aug 5, 1963, ratified by the US Senate on Sept 24, 1963, signed by JFK on Oct 7, 1963 and went into effect on Oct 10, 1963. It banned the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, outer space and under water.  

**W. Averell Harriman (1891-1986) was born in New York City.  He established a successful Wall Street banking business and became chairman of the Commerce Dept's Business Council. WAH served as an envoy for FDR in Europe during WWII and later as US ambassador to the USSR and Britain.  

SOURCE

"Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, www.jfklibrary.org/

JFK Signs Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

The White House, Treaty Room

October 7, 1963

Photo by Robert Knudsen

JFK Library Image