Ngô Đình Diệm, the president of South Vietnam, made a state visit to the United States, the main ally of his government, in 1957. Diệm received a glowing welcome and was heaped with praise as a leader of a "free country" in the midst of the Cold War. The receptions during the visit were in large part organized by the American Friends of Vietnam (AFV), a lobby group dedicated to resolute US support of South Vietnam and which included many politicians from both major parties.Jacobs (2006), pp. 100–104. The visit was mainly celebratory and ceremonial, rather than being a policy or planning mission. It was part of a year of travelling for Diệm, as he made a visit to Australia in September, as well as to fellow anti-communist countries South Korea and Thailand.

Prior to the visit, the US government and the AFV made thorough preparations to make Diệm's visit pleasant, and the AFV successfully lobbied the media to write favourable reports on the South Vietnamese leader. Diệm was trumpeted as a champion of democracy, and mentions of his autocratic style and election rigging were avoided. Diệm arrived by plane in Washington, D.C., on May 8, and was personally greeted at the airport by President Dwight D. Eisenhower—an honor Eisenhower accorded to only one other visiting head of state. Diệm's motorcade was greeted by 50,000 wellwishers and his address to the US Congress and his policies were heartily endorsed by both sides of politics. During his time in the US capital, Diệm also attended receptions, and had private meetings with both Eisenhower and the US Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, to discuss American support for South Vietnam, although the meeting with Dulles was ineffectual as Diệm spoke continuously, rendering two-way discussions impossible.

Diệm then visited New York City, where he was given a ticker tape parade through Manhattan, which was attended by 250,000. He was presented with several honors by the city council and given a civic reception, before attending several functions with business leaders, marketing his country as a favorable location for foreign investment. The South Vietnamese president also made stops at the city's main Roman Catholic institution, St Patrick's Cathedral—a Catholic, Diệm had been helped to power by the lobbying of Cardinal Francis Spellman and American Catholic politicians. He also returned to Maryknoll Seminary in Ossining, New York, where he had stayed while in exile, and to the Catholic Seton Hall University to receive an honorary doctorate. Diệm later received an honorary degree from Michigan State University, where he had stayed in exile earlier in the decade and the day was dedicated in his honor. The South Vietnamese president then traveled westwards across to the Pacific coast before returning to Vietnam.

The visit was the high point of relations between Diệm and Washington, as in later years, the US government and members of the AFV became increasingly disillusioned with Diệm's failure to liberalize his government and enact changes to make South Vietnam more democratic. The once-supportive media began to report on South Vietnam without overlooking problems in Diệm's administration. In 1963, American support for Diệm collapsed during the Buddhist crisis as Washington concluded that Diệm was incapable of offering a solid alternative to the communists, and he was overthrown in a US-backed military coup and executed after being captured.

Background

In 1933, Diệm had been the Interior Minister of Vietnam, serving under Emperor Bảo Đại. However, he resigned after a few months because the French colonial authorities would not give Vietnam any meaningful autonomy, and became a private citizen for the next decade.Jacobs (2006), pp. 20–21.Karnow, p. 231. During World War II, Imperial Japan attacked Indochina and wrested control from France, but when they were defeated by the Allies in 1945, a power vacuum emerged.Jacobs (2006), p. 22. The communist-dominated Viet Minh of Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and fought for independence, while the French attempted to regain control of their colony, and created the State of Vietnam under Bảo Đại, which was an associated free state within the French Union. A staunch anti-communist nationalist, Diệm opposed both and attempted to create his own movement, with little success.Jacobs (2006), p. 23. With both the French and the communists hostile to him, Diệm felt unsafe and went into self-imposed exile in 1950, leaving Vietnam for the first time in his life.Jacobs (2006), p. 25. He did so as the communists had sentenced him to death in absentia, while the French refused to give him protection, claiming that they had no resources. Diệm spent most of the next four years in the United States and Europe enlisting support, particularly among fellow Catholic politicians in America and Vatican officials. Diệm's success with the latter group was helped by the fact that his elder brother Ngô Đình Thục was the leading Catholic cleric in Vietnam and had studied with high-ranking priests in Rome.Jacobs (2006), pp. 26–33.Karnow, p. 233.

Diệm had a chance meeting with Wesley Fishel, a political science professor from America during a stopover in Japan. A proponent of the "third force" ideology that opposed communism and colonialism, Fishel quickly befriended Diệm.Jacobs (2006), pp. 25–26. The American academic organized contacts for Diệm in the US, and he was given an audience with the Acting US Secretary of State James Webb. Diệm made little impression in the first meeting, but continued to meet with lower ranking officials. Thuc introduced his younger brother to Cardinal Francis Spellman, the most politically powerful priest of his time and former classmate of Thuc. Later, Diệm was given a meeting with Pope Pius XII.Jacobs (2006), p. 27. In early 1951, Diệm was given an audience with US Secretary of State Dean Acheson. The success of his presentation to Acheson prompted Diệm to stay in the US to campaign, basing himself at Spellman's seminary in New Jersey. Diệm travelled across the nation, speaking at universities, and he was given a faculty position at Fishel's institution, the Michigan State University.Jacobs (2006), pp. 29–31. Diệm then gained the support of US Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas and Senators John McCormack, Mike Mansfield and John F. Kennedy. McCormack later became the Senate Majority Leader, while Mansfield—a Democrat from Montana—had been a professor of Asian history before entering politics; as a result his opinions about Vietnam were more influential and held in high regard by his fellow senators.Jacobs (2006), p. 31.

In 1954, the French lost the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and the Geneva Conference was held to determine the future of Indochina.Jacobs (2006), p. 37. The Viet Minh were given control of North Vietnam, while the State of Vietnam controlled the territory south of the 17th parallel. The Geneva agreements, which the State of Vietnam did not sign, called for reunification elections to be held in 1956.Jacobs (2006), pp. 40–42.Karnow, p. 235. Bảo Đại appointed Diệm as his Prime Minister, hoping Diệm would be able to attract American aid as the French withdrew from Southeast Asia.Jacobs (2006), pp. 38–39.Karnow, p. 234. Diệm returned to Vietnam in June 1954 and took up the post on July 7, 1954. After a series of disagreements, Diệm deposed Bảo Đại in a fraudulent referendum on October 23, 1955, and declared himself president of the newly-proclaimed Republic of Vietnam three days later.Jacobs (2006), p. 85.Karnow, p. 239. Diệm received support from the US and other anti-communist countries in the midst of the Cold War. He refused to hold national reunification elections scheduled in 1956, and asserted that Ho would rig the ballots in the north, although he had done so himself in deposing Bảo Đại. In the meantime, Diệm continued to consolidate his rule and stabilize his new nation.Jacobs (2006), pp. 98–99.

Preparation Diệm's trip came after two years of American attempts to schedule a state visit. In 1955, Washington made two attempts to organise a trip while Diệm was still prime minister, but he was too busy quelling opposition groups and his grip on power was tenuous.Jacobs (2004), pp. 253–254. Diệm addressed these issues by crushing the Bình Xuyên organised crime syndicate in the Battle of Saigon in May 1955, and then deposed Bảo Đại and proclaimed the Republic of Vietnam after his brother Ngô Đình Nhu rigged a referendum that made him head of state. Diệm was credited with 98.2% of the votes cast, with a 133% margin of victory in the capital of Saigon.Karnow, pp. 238–239. The South Vietnamese leader's visit was organized after he indicated interest in February 1957 to US Ambassador to South Vietnam G. Frederick Reinhardt.Jacobs (2004), p. 254.

The Eisenhower administration prepared for Diệm's arrival in great detail. A memorandum from the Office of Protocol (OP) of the State Department gave its personnel detailed information on ceremonial intricacies, such as the correct pronunciation of Diệm's name. It went further in briefing staff on the toasting procedure. The OP printed and distributed a manual detailing Diệm's personal traits and idiosyncrasies. It said the South Vietnamese president was "an introverted, lonely figure ... He is, however, a man with an almost messianic sense of mission". In 1963, Diệm held a military parade in honour of his ascension to power in front of empty grandstands, barring the public.Halberstam, pp. 19–21. The OP warned that Diệm could be "both intransigent and almost brutal in pursuing and applying policies he has decided upon, and ... has a violent temper."

In contrast to public announcements describing Diệm as a freedom-loving democrat, the manual also explained his authoritarian attitude, as exhibited by his ability to formulate legislation by decree and the police state mechanisms run by Nhu's Cần Lao Party;Jacobs (2006), pp. 86–87. in 1955, Nhu's agents had beaten those who voted for Bảo Đại instead of Diệm. The manual said that "Vietnam in its present situation and given its own heritage is not yet ready for a democratic government as it is known in the West. The interplay of all shades of opinion in the policy-making process is considered a luxury Vietnam cannot yet afford." It advised public servants to shun any mention of Diệm's autocracy and the fact that he regularly killed or jailed dissidents, noting that "He is most sensitive to such charges."

Media campaign In the lead-up to the visit, the American Friends of Vietnam (AFV) engaged in a promotional campaign encouraging newspapers to cover Diệm's visit and imploring them to give the South Vietnamese leader favourable coverage. The AFV also drafted many of Diệm's speeches, making sure that analogies were made between South Vietnam and various events in American history, so that he would make a good impression on the American public and decision-makers. For this purpose they employed the services of the political consultancy firm Harold Oram.Fisher, p. 132.