UCLA Asia Institute
Today in Asian History
November 1
1963 South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu were killed in a U.S. government-authorized military coup. The Ngo brothers were from a wealthy, Roman Catholic family. A staunch anti-communist Ngo Dinh Diem (b. 1901) turned down a 1945 offer to serve in Ho Chi Minh's communist government. Ngo Dinh Diem went into exile, made important American contacts, and returned to head the non-communist government in the south in 1954. Ngo Dinh Diem cancelled the 1956 elections mandated by the Geneva peace accord. His regime combined corruption and ineptitude and drew opposition from several quarters. By August 1963, the U.S. government had given up on the Diem regime. See U.S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.'s comments below.
1968 U.S. Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson halted bombing in Vietnam and expressed his hope this would would produce progress at the peace talks in Paris. In February 1967, North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh wrote to Johnson to reject direct talks between his government and that of the United States.
1984 Rajiv Gandhi (b. 1944) became prime minister of India. Gandhi was the son of the slain prime minister Indira Gandhi and the grandson of India's first prime minister Jawaharal Nehru. He took office amidst anti-Sikh rioting. The Manas site on South Asia housed at UCLA includes a page on Rajiv Gandhi which includes Nehru, Indira, and Rajiv.
1984 Japan got its first woman cabinet member in 22 years.
1984 In Japan, Fukuzawa Yukichi, Nitobe Inazo, and Natsume Soseki became chief figures on Japanese currency. The three were important educators and writers, the last two happened to be Christians. Previously, Japanese currency featured political figures such as Prince Shotoku (7th century) and Ito Hirobumi (19th-20th century). Click here to see Fukuzawa Yukichi as he appears on the 10,000 yen note. UC San Diego students have formed the Dead Fukuzawa discussion group. Click here to see a photograph of Nitobe Inazo and click here to see a review of his Bushido: The Soul of Japan. Parts of Natsume Soseki's Kokoro (1914) are available online. You may also wish to read a brief Encarta entry about Soseki.
1987 Deng Xiaoping and other long-serving Chinese Communist Party leaders stepped down from formal positions of power. Over ninety veteran leaders retired from service in the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee. Deng, of course, retained his unofficial authority and remained China's most powerful figure until his death in 1997. Deng was twice selected Time Magazine's "Man of the Year." Click here to read Time's obituary for Deng. Deng called on cadre to "Do more and talk less," a comment that found its way on to a 1992 Chinese poster.
