Editing Ngo Dinh Diem (section)

==Legacy==
Diệm's assassination led to the collapse of his regime and to the end of the first Republic of Vietnam. His nine years of power from 1954 to 1963 can be evaluated at many levels by his part in resolving the northern refugees issue, establishing and consolidating the power of his regime, subduing the sects, and pacifying the country. Diệm stabilized the Southern Vietnam, which had suffered in the First Indochina War, and built a relatively stable government in Saigon in the late 1950s. The normality and domestic security created conditions for economic recovery and the development of education in South Vietnam, which contributed educated human resources to serve the nation.<ref name="Taylor, p.3"/>
 
According to historian [[Philip Catton]], Diệm was first and foremost a Vietnamese nationalist who was wary of dependence on the United States and "feared the Americans nearly as much as the Communist insurgents". Diệm constantly clashed with his American advisors over policies and had a completely different understanding of both democracy and Catholic values in comparison to the West. Keith Taylor argues that while Diệm's rule was authoritarian, it was also necessary given the precarious situation of the south.<ref name="shidler">{{cite web |url=https://www.eiu.edu/historia/Historia2009Shidler.pdf |title=Vietnam's Changing Historiography: Ngo Dinh Diem and America's Leadership |last1=Shidler |first1=Derek |year=2009 |access-date=23 October 2022}}</ref> His claim that the South Vietnamese army would gradually gain experience and skill in both warfare and intelligence under Diệm's command, and his assassination turned the tide in favor of the north, with the subsequent governments proving inefficient and incapable of organising successful resistance to Viet Cong advances. According to Edward Miller, orthodox scholars argue that Diem as a corrupt tyrannical puppet, while revisionists believe Diem was an independent leader who knew what was necessary to allow his young regime to survive. However, the public and most historians would agree that the corrupt nature of Diem’s authoritarian regime only hindered America’s progress in Vietnam<ref name="shidler"/>
 
According to [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]:
:“Diem established an autocratic regime that was staffed at the highest levels by members of his own family… Diem never fulfilled his promise of land reforms… The military tactics Diem used against the insurgency were heavy-handed and ineffective and served only to deepen his government’s unpopularity and isolation.”<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ngo-Dinh-Diem Ngo Dinh Diem] .”</ref>
 
In May 1961, U.S. Vice President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] visited Saigon and enthusiastically declared Diệm the "[[Winston Churchill]] of Asia". Hover, on carried away, when [[Stanley Karnow]] asked why he had made the comment when they aboard airplane later, Johnson replied:
:"Shit! Diem is the only boy we've got out there."<ref>Stanley Karnow, “Vietnam a History”, Edition King Press 1983, P. 214</ref>