Editing Ngo Dinh Diem (section)

===Establishment of the Republic of Vietnam===
{{Main|1955 State of Vietnam referendum}}
[[File:VA066641 Referendum Diem v. Bao Dai 1955.jpg|thumb|Results of the 1955 referendum posted on [[Ho Chi Minh City Hall|Saigon City Hall]]]]
In South Vietnam, a referendum was scheduled for 23 October 1955 to determine the future direction of the south, in which the people would choose Diệm or Bảo Đại as the leader of [[South Vietnam]].{{sfn|Moyar|2006|p=54}} Diệm, with the support of his brother Ngô Đình Nhu and the Cần Lao Party, used an avid propaganda campaign to destroy Bảo Đại's reputation and garner support for Diem. Supporters of Bảo Đại were not allowed to campaign, and were physically attacked by Nhu's workers.<ref name="karnow55" /> Official results showed 98.2 per cent of voters favoured Diệm, an implausibly high result that was condemned as fraudulent. The total number of votes far exceeded the number of registered voters by over 380,000, further evidence that the referendum was heavily rigged.<ref name="karnow55">{{harvnb|Karnow|1997|pp= 223–224}}</ref>{{sfn|Jacobs|2006|p=95}} For example, only 450,000 voters were registered in Saigon, but 605,025 were said to have voted for Diệm.<ref name="karnow55" />{{sfn|Jacobs|2006|p=95}}
 
[[File:Ap540721012 geneva conference 1954.jpg|alt=Representatives meeting at the 1954 Geneva Accords|left|thumb|Representatives meeting at the [[Geneva Accords (1954)|1954 Geneva Accords]]]]
On 26 October 1955, Diệm proclaimed the formation of the Republic of Vietnam, with himself as its first President until 26 October 1956. The first Constitution provided articles to establish the republic and organize the election of its president.<ref name="Grant">{{cite journal|title=The Viet Nam Constitution of 1956|first=J. A. C.|last= Grant|date=June 1958| url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/abs/viet-nam-constitution-of-1956/59720690F963611C93A9DA2E40CF4350=|journal=[[American Political Science Review]]|volume=52|issue=2|pages=437–462|access-date=28 October 2022|doi=10.2307/1952326|jstor=1952326 |s2cid=143647818 }}</ref> The 1954 Geneva Accords prescribed elections to reunify the country in 1956. Diệm refused to hold these elections, claiming that a free election was not possible in the North<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KaootJV5BR4C&dq=Unheralded+victory+Poland&pg=PA8 |title=Unheralded Victory: The Defeat of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army, 1961–1973|first=Mark|last= William Woodruff|year=2005|publisher=[[Random House]]|isbn=978-0891418665}}</ref> and that since the previous State of Vietnam had not signed the accords, they were not bound by it.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/vietnamese-communists-relations-with-china-and-the-second-indochina-conflict-1956-1962/|title=Vietnamese Communists' Relations with China and the Second Indochina War (1956–62)|first=Ang|last= Cheng Guan|date=1997| publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]| page=11|isbn=0-7864-0404-3}}</ref> Diệm claimed his government had the legal right to refuse the general elections, because the State of Vietnam had been recognized by France as a fully sovereign state within the French Union on 4 June 1954 and the country became independent from the treaties signed by France.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Turner |first=Robert F. |title=Vietnamese Communism: Its Origins and Development |publisher=[[Hoover Institution|Hoover Institution Publications]] |year=1975 |isbn=978-0-8179-1431-8 |location=Stanford|p=93}}</ref> According to historian [[Keith Taylor (historian)|Keith Taylor]], Diệm's rejection of the Geneva Accords was a way of objecting to the French colonization of Vietnam, while at the same time expressing his opinion of Bảo Đại, and the establishment of the First Republic of Vietnam served to assert Vietnamese independence from France.{{sfn|Taylor|2015|p=6}} At the same time, the first Constitution of the Republic of Vietnam was promulgated. According to the Constitution, the President was granted an inordinate amount of power, and his governing style became increasingly authoritarian over time.{{sfn|Miller|2013|p=137}}
 
Diệm's rule was [[authoritarian]] and [[nepotism|nepotistic]]. His most trusted official was his brother Nhu, leader of the primary pro-Diệm party, the Cần Lao Party. Nhu was an [[opium]] addict and admirer of [[Adolf Hitler]]. He modeled the Cần Lao secret police's marching style and torture styles on Nazi methodology.{{sfn|Olson|1996|p=65}} Cẩn, another brother, was put in charge of the former Imperial City of Huế. Although neither Cẩn nor Nhu held any official role in the government, they ruled their regions of South Vietnam absolutely, commanding private armies and secret police forces. Diệm's youngest brother Luyện was appointed Ambassador to the United Kingdom. His elder brother, Ngô Đình Thục, was [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Huế|Archbishop of Huế]]. Despite this, Thuc lived in the Presidential Palace, along with Nhu, Nhu's wife, and Diệm. Diệm was [[Nationalism|nationalistic]], devoutly Catholic, [[anti-Communist]], and preferred the philosophies of [[personalism]] and [[Confucianism]].{{sfn|Karnow|1997|p=326}}{{sfn|Moyar|2006|p=36}}
 
[[File:Presidential Standard of South Vietnam (1955–1963).svg|thumb|Presidential Standard of South Vietnam (1955–1963)]]
Diệm's rule was also pervaded by family corruption. Cẩn was widely believed to be involved in several illegal operations, namely the illegal smuggling of [[rice]] to North Vietnam on the black market, the opium trade via [[Laos]], in monopolizing the [[cinnamon]] trade, and amassing a fortune in foreign banks.{{sfn|Buttinger|1967|p=954-955}}{{sfn|Langguth|2000|p=258}} With Nhu, Cẩn competed for U.S. contracts and rice trade.{{sfn|Karnow|1997|p= 246}} Thuc, the most powerful religious leader in the country, was allowed to solicit "voluntary contributions to the Church" from Saigon businessmen, which was likened to "tax notices."{{sfn|Jacobs|2006|p=89}} Thuc also used his position to acquire farms, businesses, urban real estate, rental property, and rubber plantations in the name of the Catholic Church. He also used [[Army of the Republic of Vietnam]] (ARVN) personnel to work on his timber and construction projects. The Nhus amassed a fortune by running numbers and lottery rackets, manipulating currency and extorting money from Saigon businesses, while Luyen became a multimillionaire by speculating in [[Piastre]]s and [[British Pounds|Pounds]] on the currency exchange using inside government information.{{sfn|Olson|1996|p=98}}
 
However, Miller wrote that Diệm also clamped down on corruption.{{sfn|Miller|2013|p=152}} South Vietnam was divided into colonial-era provinces, of which governors enjoyed sweeping powers and firmly controlled local administrations, creating a problem of corruption and cronyism. The governors were seen as petty tyrants, and Diệm launched corruption probes while also replacing many of the governors. However, starting in 1954, the political turmoil prevented him from taking further measures.{{sfn|Miller|2013|p=152}} The MSUG, an American advisory body created to aid the Diệm's regime, recommended that Diệm centralize power by abolishing local administrations and reforming the existing ones into much larger "areas", with much less power and no financial autonomy. Diệm objected to abolishing the position of province chiefs, arguing that only local governments could address "the needs of local people" as he believed that requiring fiscal self-sufficiency from the local governments was key to creating the "ethos of mutual responsibility" – a key concept in Diệm's communitarian interpretation of democracy.{{sfn|Miller|2013|p=155}}
 
The Cần Lao Party played a key role in Diệm's regime, often acting as much more than a tool of political organization. Initially, the party acted secretly based on a network of cells, and each member only knew the identities of a few other members. When necessary, the Party could assume the role of the government. After 1954, the existence of the party was recognized, but its activities were hidden from public view. In the early 1950s, Diệm and Nhu used the party to mobilize support for Diệm's political movements. According to the Republic of Vietnam decree 116/BNV/CT, the Cần Lao Party was established on 2 September 1954. Personalism, as part of [[Person Dignity Theory]], officially became the basic doctrine of Diệm's regime, reflected in the Constitution's preface, which declared that "Building Politics, Economy, Society, Culture for the people based on respecting Personalism".<ref>Nguyễn, Xuân Hoài (2011). ''Chế độ Việt Nam cộng hòa ở miền Nam Việt Nam giai đoạn 1955–1963 Republic of Vietnam regime in South Vietnam (1955–1963), Dissertation''. Ho Chi Minh city: University of Social Sciences and Humanities – Ho Chi Minh city. pp. 43–47.</ref>