Tran Van Huong
Encyclopedia
Trần Văn Hương was a South Vietnam
ese politician. He was the penultimate president of South Vietnam prior to its surrender to the communist forces of North Vietnam
.
.
During the rule of Ngô Đình Diệm
, Hương was jailed in 1960 for signing the Caravelle Manifesto
that criticised Diệm. However, after Diệm was overthrown
and assassinated in 1963
, Hương gave a scathing analysis of the coup generals' action. He stated that "The top generals who decided to murder Diệm and his brother were scared to death. The generals knew very well that having no talent, no moral virtues, no political support whatsoever, they could not prevent a spectacular comeback of the president and Mr. Nhu if they were alive."
and the senior officers in his military junta created a semblance of civilian rule by forming the High National Council
(HNC), an appointed advisory body akin to a legislature.
The HNC, selected the aging civilian politician Phan Khắc Sửu
as chief of state, and Sửu selected Hương as prime minister, a position that had greater power. However, Khánh and the senior generals retained the real power. At the time, both Saigon and Washington were planning a large-scale bombing campaign
against North Vietnam in an attempt to deter communist aggression, but were waiting for stability in the south before starting the air strikes.
In January 1965, Hương introduced a series of measures to intensify the anti-communist war effort by expanding military expenditure using aid money and equipment from the Americans, and increasing the size of the armed forces by widening the terms of conscription. This provoked widespread anti-Hương demonstrations and riots across the country, mainly from conscription-aged students and pro-negotiations Buddhists. Reliant on Buddhist support, Khánh did little to try to contain the protests. Khánh then decided to have the armed forces take over the government. On January 27, Khánh removed Hương in a bloodless putsch with the support of Thi and Ky. He promised to leave politics once the situation was stabilized and hand over power to a civilian body. It was believed that some of the officers supported Khánh’s increased power so that it would give him an opportunity to fail and be removed permanently. Khánh persisted with the facade of civilian government by retaining figurehead chief of state Phan Khắc Sửu
and making economics professor Nguyễn Xuân Oánh
the caretaker prime minister.
Khánh's deposal of the prime minister nullified a counter-plot involving Hương that had developed during the civil disorders that forced him from office. In an attempt to pre-empt his deposal, Hương had backed a plot led by some Đại Việt-oriented Catholic officers reported to include Generals Thieu and Nguyễn Hữu Có
. They planned to remove Khánh and bring Khiem back from Washington. The US Embassy in Saigon was privately supportive of the aim, but was not ready to fully back the move as they regarded it as poorly thought out and potentially a political embarrassment due to the need to use an American plane to transport some plotters, including Khiem, between Saigon and Washington. As a result, the Deputy Ambassador U. Alexis Johnson
only promised asylum for Hương if necessary.
Khánh's deposal of Hương further heightened American opposition to him and fears that his reliance on Buddhist support would result in his not taking a hardline position against the communists. Aware that US support for him was further ebbing away, Khánh tried to initiate peace negotiations with the Việt cộng, but he only managed an exchange of letters and was yet to organize any meetings or negotiations before he was overthrown. In the meantime, this only intensified US efforts to engineer a coup, and many of Khánh’s colleagues—mostly Catholic Đại Việt supporters—had by then privately concluded that he was set to pursue a deal with the communists. Many of these felt that Khánh thought of himself as the "Sihanouk of Vietnam"; the Cambodian monarch had managed to avoid the Cold War
for the time being by shunning both communist and anti-communist blocs. During the first half of February, suspicions and evidence against Khánh began to solidify, an example being his order to release the wife of communist leader Huỳnh Tấn Phát from jail. Taylor's superiors in Washington began to align with his view, giving him more scope to agitate for a coup.
, who presided over the surrender
of the government two days later.
Trần Văn Hương was placed under house arrest by the communist regime. When deemed adequately reformed in 1977, his civil rights were restored but he declined. Instead, he asked for all officials of the ARVN
to be released from prison before he would take his place among the freed. His request was ignored. The former president died quietly in his own home.
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
ese politician. He was the penultimate president of South Vietnam prior to its surrender to the communist forces of North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
.
Biography
He served as mayor of Saigon twice, and was the Prime Minister from November 1964–January 1965, and from May–August 1969. He also served as vice president under President Nguyễn Văn ThiệuNguyen Van Thieu
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu was president of South Vietnam from 1965 to 1975. He was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , became head of a military junta, and then president after winning a fraudulent election...
.
During the rule of Ngô Đình Diệm
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm was the first president of South Vietnam . In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a...
, Hương was jailed in 1960 for signing the Caravelle Manifesto
Caravelle Manifesto
The Caravelle Manifesto was written in April 1960 as a public criticism of Ngo Dinh Diem by a group of anti-Communist politicians and other Vietnamese notables. The manifesto criticized the Diem regime's restrictions on freedom and pushed for reforms in South Vietnam.Its name was derived from the...
that criticised Diệm. However, after Diệm was overthrown
1963 South Vietnamese coup
In November 1963, President Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam was deposed by a group of Army of the Republic of Vietnam officers who disagreed with his handling of the Buddhist crisis and, in general, his increasing oppression of national groups in the name of fighting the communist Vietcong.The...
and assassinated in 1963
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem
The arrest and assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm, then president of South Vietnam, marked the culmination of a successful CIA-backed coup d’état led by General Dương Văn Minh in November 1963...
, Hương gave a scathing analysis of the coup generals' action. He stated that "The top generals who decided to murder Diệm and his brother were scared to death. The generals knew very well that having no talent, no moral virtues, no political support whatsoever, they could not prevent a spectacular comeback of the president and Mr. Nhu if they were alive."
First prime ministership
On September 26, 1964, and due to US pressure, General Nguyễn KhánhNguyen Khanh
Nguyễn Khánh is a former general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam who variously served as Head of State and Prime minister of South Vietnam while at the head of a military junta from January 1964 until February 1965. He was involved in or against many coup attempts, failed and successful,...
and the senior officers in his military junta created a semblance of civilian rule by forming the High National Council
High National Council (South Vietnam)
The High National Council was a body of 17 civilians appointed by the ruling Military Revolutionary Council of South Vietnam in October 1964 to give a semblance of civilian rule. They chose the figurehead chief of state Phan Khac Suu, who chose the civilian Prime Minister Tran Van Huong, although...
(HNC), an appointed advisory body akin to a legislature.
The HNC, selected the aging civilian politician Phan Khắc Sửu
Phan Khac Suu
Phan Khắc Sửu was President of South Vietnam from 1964–1965.-Biography:He was an octogenarian, a trained agricultural engineer and was a member of the Cao Đài religion.He was a member of Emperor Bảo Đại’s political cabinet....
as chief of state, and Sửu selected Hương as prime minister, a position that had greater power. However, Khánh and the senior generals retained the real power. At the time, both Saigon and Washington were planning a large-scale bombing campaign
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was the title of a gradual and sustained US 2nd Air Division , US Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force aerial bombardment campaign conducted against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from 2 March 1965 until 1 November 1968, during the Vietnam War.The four objectives...
against North Vietnam in an attempt to deter communist aggression, but were waiting for stability in the south before starting the air strikes.
In January 1965, Hương introduced a series of measures to intensify the anti-communist war effort by expanding military expenditure using aid money and equipment from the Americans, and increasing the size of the armed forces by widening the terms of conscription. This provoked widespread anti-Hương demonstrations and riots across the country, mainly from conscription-aged students and pro-negotiations Buddhists. Reliant on Buddhist support, Khánh did little to try to contain the protests. Khánh then decided to have the armed forces take over the government. On January 27, Khánh removed Hương in a bloodless putsch with the support of Thi and Ky. He promised to leave politics once the situation was stabilized and hand over power to a civilian body. It was believed that some of the officers supported Khánh’s increased power so that it would give him an opportunity to fail and be removed permanently. Khánh persisted with the facade of civilian government by retaining figurehead chief of state Phan Khắc Sửu
Phan Khac Suu
Phan Khắc Sửu was President of South Vietnam from 1964–1965.-Biography:He was an octogenarian, a trained agricultural engineer and was a member of the Cao Đài religion.He was a member of Emperor Bảo Đại’s political cabinet....
and making economics professor Nguyễn Xuân Oánh
Nguyen Xuan Oanh
Nguyễn Xuân Oánh was Prime Minister of South Vietnam in 1964 and 1965.Professor Nguyễn Xuân Oánh was trained as an economist, receiving his doctorate from Harvard University. He subsequently worked for the International Monetary Fund before returning to Vietnam as an economic adviser...
the caretaker prime minister.
Khánh's deposal of the prime minister nullified a counter-plot involving Hương that had developed during the civil disorders that forced him from office. In an attempt to pre-empt his deposal, Hương had backed a plot led by some Đại Việt-oriented Catholic officers reported to include Generals Thieu and Nguyễn Hữu Có
Nguyen Huu Co
Lieutenant General Nguyễn Hữu Có served as an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and was prominent in several coups and juntas in the 1960s....
. They planned to remove Khánh and bring Khiem back from Washington. The US Embassy in Saigon was privately supportive of the aim, but was not ready to fully back the move as they regarded it as poorly thought out and potentially a political embarrassment due to the need to use an American plane to transport some plotters, including Khiem, between Saigon and Washington. As a result, the Deputy Ambassador U. Alexis Johnson
U. Alexis Johnson
-Background:Ural Alexis Johnson was born in Falun, Kansas into a family of Swedish descent. His mother named him for the mountain range, of which she learned from a geography book. He had a rural upbringing and schooling until 1923, when the family moved to Glendale, California. He graduated...
only promised asylum for Hương if necessary.
Khánh's deposal of Hương further heightened American opposition to him and fears that his reliance on Buddhist support would result in his not taking a hardline position against the communists. Aware that US support for him was further ebbing away, Khánh tried to initiate peace negotiations with the Việt cộng, but he only managed an exchange of letters and was yet to organize any meetings or negotiations before he was overthrown. In the meantime, this only intensified US efforts to engineer a coup, and many of Khánh’s colleagues—mostly Catholic Đại Việt supporters—had by then privately concluded that he was set to pursue a deal with the communists. Many of these felt that Khánh thought of himself as the "Sihanouk of Vietnam"; the Cambodian monarch had managed to avoid the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
for the time being by shunning both communist and anti-communist blocs. During the first half of February, suspicions and evidence against Khánh began to solidify, an example being his order to release the wife of communist leader Huỳnh Tấn Phát from jail. Taylor's superiors in Washington began to align with his view, giving him more scope to agitate for a coup.
Presidency
On April 21, 1975, Thiệu resigned and handed the presidency to Hương. On April 28, 1975, after one week as president, Trần Văn Hương resigned and handed power over to General Dương Văn MinhDuong Van Minh
Minh was born on 16 February 1916 in Mỹ Tho Province in the Mekong Delta, the son of a wealthy landowner who served in a prominent position in the Finance Ministry of the French colonial administration...
, who presided over the surrender
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975...
of the government two days later.
Trần Văn Hương was placed under house arrest by the communist regime. When deemed adequately reformed in 1977, his civil rights were restored but he declined. Instead, he asked for all officials of the ARVN
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam , sometimes parsimoniously referred to as the South Vietnamese Army , was the land-based military forces of the Republic of Vietnam , which existed from October 26, 1955 until the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975...
to be released from prison before he would take his place among the freed. His request was ignored. The former president died quietly in his own home.