Trần Văn Hương facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Trần Văn Hương
Official portrait, 1971
3rd President of South Vietnam
In office 21 April 1975 – 28 April 1975
Prime Minister	Nguyễn Bá Cẩn
Vice President	Vacant
Preceded by	Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
Succeeded by	Dương Văn Minh
3rd Vice President of South Vietnam
In office 31 October 1971 – 21 April 1975
President	Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
Prime Minister	Trần Thiện Khiêm Nguyễn Bá Cẩn
Preceded by	Nguyễn Cao Kỳ
Succeeded by	Nguyễn Văn Huyền
3rd and 7th Prime Minister of South Vietnam
In office 25 May 1968 – 22 August 1969
President	Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
Deputy	Trần Thiện Khiêm
Preceded by	Nguyễn Văn Lộc
Succeeded by	Trần Thiện Khiêm
In office 4 November 1964 – 27 January 1965
Deputy	Nguyễn Xuân Oánh Nguyễn Lưu Viên
Chief of State	Phan Khắc Sửu
Preceded by	Nguyễn Khánh
Succeeded by	Nguyễn Xuân Oánh (acting) Phan Huy Quát
Minister of National Defense of South Vietnam
In office 4 November 1964 – 18 January 1965
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Nguyễn Khánh
Succeeded by	Trần Văn Minh
Personal details
Born	(1902-12-01)1 December 1902 Long Châu commune, Châu Thành district, Vĩnh Long Province, French Cochinchina
Died	27 January 1982(1982-01-27) (aged 79) Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Political party	National Social Democratic Front (since 1971)
Other political affiliations	Independent (1963–1971) Renaissance Party (1953–1963)
Spouse	Lưu Thị Triệu
Children	2 (Two sons)
Alma mater	Collège Chasseloup-Laubat Hanoi College of Education
Profession	Educator Politician
Signature

Trần Văn Hương (born December 1, 1902 – died January 27, 1982) was an important politician in South Vietnam. He served as the president of South Vietnam for a short time in April 1975. This was just before South Vietnam surrendered to the communist forces from North Vietnam. Before becoming president, he was also the prime minister for several months. This happened from November 1964 to January 1965. During this time, there was a lot of public unrest and power struggles.

Trần Văn Hương's Life Story

Trần Văn Hương grew up in a poor family in the Mekong Delta region. He was adopted as a baby and later became a schoolteacher. During the First Indochina War, he was known for being against both the French and the communist Vietminh. He was seen as a conservative person. He briefly joined the Vietminh, leading about 150 fighters. However, he left when communists took more control.

He refused to teach under French colonial rule. Instead, he found work in a pharmacy. He was known for riding his bicycle around town. He served as the mayor of Saigon twice. The first time was in 1954, when he worked with Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem. But they both had strong opinions and later disagreed.

Early Political Challenges

During Diệm's rule, Hương was put in jail for three years in 1960. This was because he signed a document called the Caravelle Manifesto. This document criticized Diệm's government. However, after Diệm was removed from power and killed in 1963, Hương strongly criticized the generals who did it. He believed they acted out of fear and lacked the skills to lead.

First Time as Prime Minister

In September 1964, General Nguyễn Khánh and his military leaders created a civilian government. They formed the High National Council (HNC). This group was like a parliament. The HNC chose Phan Khắc Sửu as the chief of state. Sửu then picked Hương to be the prime minister. The prime minister had more power. However, General Khánh and other generals still held the real power.

At this time, both South Vietnam and the United States were planning to bomb North Vietnam. They hoped this would stop support for the Vietcong. But they waited for more stability in the South. Hương was known for being strict. In his first speech, he said there must be "respect for public order" and "national discipline." He promised to make the government better and fight against the communists.

He took a tough stance against the Buddhists. He announced limits on public protests. He accused a Buddhist leader, Thích Trí Quang, of being a communist. In return, the Buddhists protested against Hương's government. They demanded he be removed. Hương used the army to stop the protests, which led to violent clashes.

Military Power Struggles

General Khánh and some younger generals wanted to remove older officers from the army. They thought these officers were not effective. The HNC did not approve this plan. On December 19, the generals decided to dissolve the HNC. They arrested some of its members. Hương did not speak out at first. He actually agreed with dissolving the HNC. He thought it would give him more power.

The Americans were very angry about this. Ambassador Maxwell Taylor met Hương and urged him to reject the generals' actions. Hương said he and Sửu were not told about the arrests. But he agreed to take over the HNC's work. Taylor asked Hương to publicly condemn the generals. Hương said he would reorganize his government to keep the military's support. He believed this was important for a civilian government to work.

Taylor said the U.S. did not support military rule. He warned that aid might be reduced. But Hương was not swayed. He said Vietnamese people cared more about leaders' "moral prestige" than legal rules. Later, the younger generals held a press conference. They said the HNC was dissolved for the country's good. They also said they still trusted Sửu and Hương.

Khánh and the younger generals had heated arguments with Ambassador Taylor. They even suggested expelling Taylor from South Vietnam. They thought Hương would have to agree with them. However, a secret informant told the CIA about this. American officials then spoke to the generals individually. They also told Hương that if Taylor was expelled, U.S. funding would stop. The generals changed their minds. They only asked Hương to criticize Taylor's behavior.

The South Vietnamese leaders eventually got their way. The U.S. had spent a lot of money in Vietnam. They could not afford to abandon the country and lose to the communists. An official said, "Our big advantage over the Americans is that they want to win the war more than we do." The military agreed to give power to Hương. They asked him to organize elections. They also agreed to appoint a civilian group and release those arrested.

End of First Term

In January 1965, Hương tried to increase efforts against the communists. He planned to spend more money on the military. He also wanted to make the army bigger by drafting more people. This caused many protests and riots across the country. Students and Buddhists who wanted peace led these protests. In Huế, rioters attacked a U.S. library and burned thousands of books.

General Khánh and General Nguyễn Chánh Thi did not stop the riots. Many believed they let the disorder happen to weaken Hương's government. This would allow them to take power. Khánh then decided to have the military take over the government. On January 27, Khánh removed Hương from power without violence. He had the support of Thi and Air Vice-Marshal Nguyễn Cao Kỳ. Khánh promised to leave politics once things were stable. He said he would hand power to a civilian group.

1967 Presidential Election

In the 1967 South Vietnamese presidential election, Trần Văn Hương ran for president. He came in fourth place. He received 474,100 votes, which was about 10% of the total.

Second Time as Prime Minister

In May 1968, President Thiệu appointed Hương as prime minister again. He replaced Nguyen Van Loc. After a week of talks, Hương formed a government. It included people from different groups. Hương mostly chose experts for his team. He also made himself the minister for Rural Development. He said, "The life and death of this country depend on this government."

In March 1969, someone tried to attack Hương. A man in a military uniform fired at a police officer near Hương's car. An abandoned bicycle with explosives was pushed into the street, but it did not blow up. Hương's car quickly drove away. The attacker was arrested and said he was paid to do it. He later confessed to being a communist.

Hương's actual power was limited. President Thiệu and his military contacts still held the real power. In August 1969, Thiệu replaced Hương with General Trần Thiện Khiêm. People had been expecting Hương to be replaced for a while. The National Assembly had criticized Hương's policies. Thiệu had also stopped asking Hương for advice on important matters. By this time, Hương was also dealing with health issues like asthma.

Becoming President

On April 21, 1975, President Thiệu resigned. He handed the presidency to Trần Văn Hương. After serving for one week, Hương resigned on April 28, 1975. He gave power to General Dương Văn Minh. Minh then oversaw the surrender of the government two days later, known as the fall of Saigon.

After the war, the North Vietnamese put Hương under house arrest. In 1977, they offered to give him back his civil rights. But he refused. He asked for all former officials of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to be released from prison first. His request was not granted. Trần Văn Hương passed away peacefully at his home in 1982. He was almost 80 years old. He had a wife and two sons.

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