Nguyễn Khánh facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nguyễn Khánh
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Khánh in 1964
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| 2nd Chairman of the Military Revolutionary Council | |
| In office 30 January 1964 – 8 February 1964 |
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| Prime Minister | Vacant |
| Preceded by | Dương Văn Minh |
| Succeeded by | Dương Văn Minh |
| In office 16 August 1964 – 29 August 1964 |
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| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Dương Văn Minh |
| Succeeded by | Dương Văn Minh |
| 2nd Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam | |
| In office 3 September 1964 – 26 October 1964 |
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| Head of State |
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| Preceded by | Nguyễn Xuân Oánh Acting |
| Succeeded by | Trần Văn Hương |
| In office 8 February 1964 – 29 August 1964 |
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| Head of State |
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| Preceded by | Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ |
| Succeeded by | Nguyễn Xuân Oánh Acting |
| 2nd President of the Government of Free Vietnam | |
| In office 2005–2013 |
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| Preceded by | Nguyễn Hữu Chánh |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 November 1927 Trà Vinh, French Indochina (now Trà Vinh, Vietnam) |
| Died | 11 January 2013 (aged 85) San Jose, California, US |
| Nationality | South Vietnamese |
| Spouse | Madame Khánh |
| Children | 6; 1 stepdaughter |
| Signature |  |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |
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| Years of service | 1950–1965 |
| Rank |  General (Đại tướng) |
| Commands held |
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| Battles/wars | |
| Other work |
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Nguyễn Khánh (1927–2013) was a military officer and general in South Vietnam. He served as a top leader, including head of state and prime minister, from January 1964 to February 1965. Khánh was involved in many attempts to take or keep power through military actions. He was eventually exiled from South Vietnam in 1965 and lived in the United States until his death in 2013.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Nguyễn Khánh was born in Trà Vinh, a town in the southern part of Vietnam. His father was a rich landowner, and his mother managed property in the city of Đà Lạt. Khánh grew up with his stepmother and started his schooling in Cambodia. Later, he moved to Saigon to attend a special French school.
Joining the Việt Minh
In 1945, after finishing high school, Khánh joined the Việt Minh. This group, led by Hồ Chí Minh, wanted Vietnam to be free from French rule. Khánh's unit fought near Cà Mau, in the very south of Vietnam. They started with few weapons and had to capture or steal them.
After about 15 months, Khánh left the Việt Minh. He said he left because he didn't agree with their communist ideas. Others believed he switched sides for better opportunities and pay with the French-backed forces.
Military Career in South Vietnam
Khánh then joined the Vietnamese National Army (VNA), which was supported by France. The VNA fought alongside French forces against the Việt Minh in the First Indochina War. Khánh was among the first Vietnamese officers trained by the French.
He quickly moved up the ranks. From 1949 to 1952, he led the first airborne unit in the VNA. He even participated in a parachute jump during the Hòa Bình Operation in northern Vietnam. After Vietnam was divided, President Ngô Đình Diệm chose Khánh to lead the Republic of Vietnam Air Force.
In 1957, Khánh went to the US Army Command and General Staff College in Kansas, USA. He also studied in Japan and France. By 1960, he was a Major General and the Chief of Staff for the South Vietnamese army (ARVN).
Loyalty During the 1960 Coup Attempt
In November 1960, some paratroopers tried to overthrow President Diệm. Khánh, who lived near the palace, managed to get inside and help Diệm's loyal forces. He talked with the rebel officers and advised Diệm to make changes, but Diệm refused.
Khánh called for help from other army divisions, which arrived and stopped the coup. His actions made him seem loyal to Diệm. However, some critics later said he was playing both sides, waiting to see who would win. After the coup, Khánh was sent to lead the II Corps in the central highlands, where he was seen as effective against the Viet Cong.
Involvement in the 1963 and 1964 Coups
Khánh played a small part in the 1963 South Vietnamese coup that removed President Diệm. He expected a big reward, but the new leaders, led by General Dương Văn Minh, kept him away from Saigon. Khánh was moved to command the I Corps in the far north. This made him unhappy, and he began to plan against Minh's government.
Khánh believed Minh's government was not doing enough to fight the communists. He started working with other generals, like Đỗ Mậu and Trần Thiện Khiêm, who also felt sidelined. They secretly planned to take over.
Rumors spread that Minh's government might become neutral and stop fighting the communists, possibly with help from French President Charles de Gaulle. Khánh and his allies used these rumors to gain support from American officials. They created fake documents to suggest that Minh and other generals were planning to be neutral.
On January 30, 1964, Khánh launched his coup. He surrounded the military headquarters in Saigon before dawn. By morning, he had taken over the government without any fighting. He criticized the previous government for not doing enough to fight the war.
American officials in Washington were surprised by Khánh's coup. However, the US Ambassador, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., quickly supported Khánh, seeing him as a strong leader who could improve the situation in South Vietnam.
Setting Up the New Government
Khánh used the rumors of neutrality to arrest Generals Lê Văn Kim and Trần Văn Đôn. He claimed they were working with the French to create a neutral government. However, he couldn't find any proof, so he charged them with "lax morality" instead. They were later released but kept under watch.
Khánh also had Major Nguyễn Văn Nhung, General Minh's bodyguard, killed. Nhung was known for executing Diệm in the 1963 coup. His death caused riots, especially among Buddhists who feared a return to Diệm's policies.
Khánh declared himself the new head of state. Under American pressure, he convinced Minh to stay on as a figurehead leader to keep things stable. Khánh then expanded the Military Revolutionary Council (MRC) to 50 members and became its chairman and prime minister.
He appointed Nguyễn Tôn Hoàn as Deputy Prime Minister for rural development and Nguyễn Xuân Oánh, an economist, for finance. Khánh tried to include different political and religious groups in his government.
However, the war against the Viet Cong continued to go badly. In February 1964, a small Viet Cong group managed to escape from 3,000 South Vietnamese troops. This was a big embarrassment. Khánh fired many top army commanders, saying they were unwilling to fight.
US Defense Secretary Robert McNamara visited South Vietnam in March 1964. He publicly praised Khánh, but this made many Vietnamese see Khánh as an American puppet. McNamara privately told President Johnson that Khánh's government was weak and could fall at any moment. Despite this, the US decided to increase its aid to South Vietnam.
Khánh promised to hold village elections and elect a new National Assembly. He also tried to connect with ordinary people by visiting villages and speaking to them. However, he was hesitant about full democracy, saying it might take "another generation or two."
Challenges and Instability
The Buddhist leader Thích Trí Quang continued to criticize Khánh, accusing him of jailing Buddhists. To calm the Buddhists, Khánh agreed to remove Catholic chaplains from the military. He also sentenced a Catholic officer involved in the 1963 Huế shootings to life in prison and Diệm's brother, Ngô Đình Cẩn, to death.
In July 1964, Khánh called for the war to expand into North Vietnam. At a large rally in Saigon, he mixed soil from two containers, symbolizing a united Vietnam. He led the crowd in chanting, "To the North!" This worried US President Lyndon Johnson, who feared a wider war with China. Johnson told Khánh to focus on fighting within South Vietnam.
After the Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1964, where US ships were supposedly attacked by North Vietnam, President Johnson gained more military powers. Khánh praised the US air strikes that followed. Seeing an opportunity, Khánh declared a state of emergency on August 7, giving police more power to control protests and jail people.
The Vũng Tàu Charter and Protests
Khánh then wrote a new constitution, called the "Vũng Tàu Charter", which would give him more personal power. This led to large protests and riots in the cities, especially by Buddhists, who demanded an end to the state of emergency and the new constitution.
Fearing he would be overthrown, Khánh met with Buddhist leaders. They demanded he cancel the new constitution, bring back civilian rule, and remove former Diệm supporters from power. Khánh agreed to their demands, showing his weakness. He also paid Buddhist groups to publicly support him.
Junta Conflicts and Downfall
Khánh's concessions angered some Catholic generals, like Khiêm and Thiệu, who tried to replace him with Minh. However, the US Ambassador, Maxwell Taylor, did not want more changes in leadership.
The generals argued among themselves. Khánh blamed members of the Đại Việt party for the instability. Khiêm blamed Khánh for being too weak with the Buddhists. Khánh offered to resign, but no solution was found. Eventually, they agreed that Khánh, Minh, and Khiêm would rule together for two months until a new civilian government could be formed.
Attempted Coup and Further Instability
In September 1964, Generals Lâm Văn Phát and Dương Văn Đức launched a coup attempt. They took over parts of Saigon and announced Khánh's removal. Khánh escaped to Đà Lạt. American officials encouraged him to return, and the US embassy publicly supported him. This helped stop the coup. Khánh returned and put down the rebellion, with help from Air Marshal Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, who was becoming more powerful.
Soon after, there was a revolt by Montagnard soldiers, who killed some South Vietnamese troops and took hostages. Khánh made concessions to end this. There was also a general strike by labor unions.
Khánh and his generals created a civilian advisory body called the High National Council (HNC). They chose Phan Khắc Sửu as head of state and Trần Văn Hương as Prime Minister. However, the generals still held the real power.
Khánh sent Khiêm to Washington as ambassador. He also tried to remove older officers from the army, including Minh and the generals he had arrested earlier. The HNC refused this request.
Dissolving the High National Council
On December 19, 1964, Khánh and a group of younger officers, including Thi and Kỳ, dissolved the HNC. They arrested several HNC members and other politicians. They claimed this was necessary for the nation's interest and that Prime Minister Hương had approved it.
Falling Out with the Americans
US Ambassador Maxwell Taylor was very angry about the dissolution of the HNC. He met with the generals and scolded them, saying they had "made a real mess" and that the US might cut aid. The generals felt humiliated but stood firm, saying the change was needed for stability.
Taylor then met with Khánh and told him he had lost confidence in him. Khánh angrily replied that Vietnam was not a US satellite and threatened to expel Taylor. Khánh later suggested he might resign and go abroad, asking Taylor to fund his travel. Khánh secretly taped this conversation and later played it to his colleagues, making it seem like Taylor wanted them all expelled.
On December 22, Khánh publicly defied Taylor, saying Vietnam would not follow any foreign country's policy. He condemned "colonialism" and said it was "better to live poor but proud." He even called Taylor's attitude "beyond imagination." This defiance made him more popular among Vietnamese generals.
Despite the tensions, the US did not cut aid. They realized they had invested too much in South Vietnam to abandon it. An anonymous South Vietnamese official said, "Our big advantage over the Americans is that they want to win the war more than we do."
In January 1965, Buddhist protests against Prime Minister Hương broke out. Khánh and Thi seemed to allow the disorder, hoping it would weaken Hương's government. On January 27, Khánh staged another bloodless coup, removing Hương and taking over the government again. He kept Sửu as head of state and appointed Nguyễn Xuân Oánh as prime minister.
Khánh's Downfall
In February 1965, General Phạm Ngọc Thảo plotted against Khánh. On February 19, Thảo used tanks to seize control of military headquarters and other key buildings in Saigon. He surrounded Khánh's home. Khánh managed to escape by plane just as rebel tanks were rolling onto the runway. Thảo announced that his goal was to remove Khánh, whom he called a "dictator."
The coup attempt failed when Kỳ threatened to bomb the rebels with air force jets. However, the chaos led the Armed Forces Council to vote to remove Khánh the next day. Thi and Kỳ supported this decision, and the vote was unanimous.
Khánh tried to rally support in different provinces but found little. He was eventually stranded in Đà Lạt when his plane ran out of fuel. Fearing he might try to come back, the other generals arranged a ceremony for him at the airport. Khánh theatrically picked up some dirt, saying he was taking his homeland with him. He was then sent on a world tour as an "Ambassador-at-Large," starting with a report at the United Nations.
Personal Life
Nguyễn Khánh and his wife, Nguyễn Lê Trần, had six children and one stepdaughter. One of their sons died in a drowning accident in South Vietnam.
Images for kids
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Khánh in 1964
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Signature of Nguyễn Khánh
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Rank insignia of a General in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
See also
In Spanish: Nguyễn Khánh para niños
