Diem's handwritten proclamation to the Army on the day of the coup, November 1, 1963 (Document 26). Back at the embassy Lodge confronted Harkins over his intervention with the South Vietnamese officer (Document 22). Hoping that forces from the south would liberate Saigon, as had occurred during the coup attempt in 1960, Diem ordered all armed forces and paramilitary units to rise up to join me in fighting off the traitors. Diem would be killed within a matter of hours. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1991, p. 212 (hereafter cited as FRUS with page number). Letter From Eisenhower to Ngo Dinh Diem - The Vietnam War A Letter From Eisenhower to Ngo Dinh Diem October 23, 1954 Dear Mr. President, I have been following with great interest the course of developments in Vietnam, particularly since the conclusion of the conference at Geneva. It hopes that such aid, combined with your own continuing efforts, will contribute effectively toward an independent Viet-Nam endowed with a strong government. As the fall progressed in Washington, numerous lists were drawn up of South Vietnamese leaders who could potentially replace the Diem government. Another consistent theme among American planners was that there was no clear frontrunner, and it was unclear whether the next government would be civilian or whether it would share power with the military for a time. The National Security Archive has participated in these debates by introducing important new evidence and interpretation. Pham Van Dong on Geneva, Vietnamese independence (July 1954) Forrestal also commented, without further elaboration, that others had not been privy to the latest Lodge-JFK private communications. with great interest the course of developments in Viet-Nam, particularly Eisenhower made it clear to Diem that U.S. aid to his government during. This website is created and maintained by Alpha History. Noam Chomsky on the meaning of Vietnam (1975), Richard Nixon unveils a policy of Vietnamisation (November 1969) JFK and the Diem Coup: Declassified Records - George Washington University ISBN: 978-0-7006-1690-9, Vietnam: The History of an Unwinnable War, 1945-1975 SOURCE: Department of State Bulletin. A big issue, then and since, has been the so-called Hilsman Telegram, or, more formally, Department Telegram (DepTel) 243, which instructed U.S.