Madame Nhu also known as Madame Ngô Đình Nhu and born Trần Lệ Xuân, was considered the First Lady of South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963. In 1943, she married Ngô Đình Nhu, and converted from Mahayana Buddhism to Roman Catholicism, her husband's religion. She was influential on government policy and, since her brother-in-law Ngô Đình Diệm was unmarried, was regarded as the "First Lady" of Vietnam. Madame Nhu was sometimes called the "Dragon Lady". She often caused controversy because of her strong anti-Buddhist, pro-Catholic ideology. On November 1, 1963 her brother-in-law and her husband were assassinated in a coup d'état led by General Dương Văn Minh with the understanding that the United States would not intervene. At that time she was in the United States. The military government of Vietnam under General Dương Văn Minh confiscated all of her family's property in Saigon and she was not allowed to return to South Vietnam. Since then she is in life of exile in Europe.

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• If one has no courage to denounce, if one bows to madness and stupidity, how can one ever hope to cope with the other wrongs of humanity exploited in the same fashion by Communists?

• I may shock some by saying 'I would beat such provocateurs ten times more if they wore monks robes,' and 'I would clap hands at seeing another monk barbeque show, for one can not be responsible for the madness of others.

• Whoever has the Americans as allies does not need any enemies
  • November 2nd, 1963.

• Let them burn and we shall clap our hands.
  • Referring to the immolation of Buddhist monks including Thích Quảng Đức, 1963.

• I believe all the devils in hell are against us but we will triumph eventually because we have the Devil on our side.

• Any crime committed against the Ngo family cannot be hidden under the label of suicide. I affirm that suicide has always been considered incompatible with our religion.
  • Referring that President Ngo Dinh Diem and her husband Ngo Dinh Nhu committed suicide.

• Now you know what it feels like.
  • Madame Nhu to Jacquline Kennedy, President Kennedy's wife after his assassination.