751G.00/8–1054: Telegram
The Ambassador at Saigon (Heath) to the Department of State
517. Repeated information Paris 187, Hanoi unnumbered. When I passed through Washington month ago, I said I felt no certainty that Ngo Dinh Diem would be able to organize strong government of national appeal. His performance after month in office makes me more uncertain still. While we all recognize his integrity and sincerity as an asset, majority of nationalists in Saigon doubt that he has political sagacity or executive ability to form or conduct a government of national unity. As reported in mytel 491,1 Foreign Minister Tran Van Do is busying himself trying to rally sects and certain other elements to support of government. Do told me this morning that he hoped he would be able to persuade Cao Daists, Hoa Haos and Binh Xuyen to support and participate in new government. He said that yesterday he had told Ngo Dinh Diem that while evacuation of refugees was of urgent importance, he must delegate this responsibility and devote himself to effecting union of diverse factions and making an effective appeal to masses. To latter end it was necessary have Cao Daists and Hoa Haos, since they were in real contact with peasant masses who could not be reached through newspapers or propaganda literature. Do told Diem that no government could be formed without support of three sects at present and he would simply have to make some compromise with his principles of supremacy of National Government and his objections to government subsidy of these religious but greedy warlords with their private armies and tax collections. Furthermore, he had overcome Diem’s objections to bringing in Tran Van Tuyen as chief of information service. He said to me that Tuyen, although by no means reliable, was one man who could make something of information service. I am inclined to agree with this latter judgment.
It is to be hoped that Do will succeed in forming for Diem a strong government of national unity but he has not many days in which to accomplish this task. Such a government would have more popular appeal than government under any other of aspirants now busily intriguing and combining to oust Diem.
So far General Ely has not given any encouragement to groups [Page 1933] planning Diem’s ouster, but he told me today that he did not believe Diem’s government would be long-lived because of Diem’s rigidity and incapacity. He nevertheless believed that any government would need Diem’s reputation and integrity to have national appeal. He doubted, however, that Diem would ever consent to take a subordinate position. I argued very strongly with Ely that there should be no encouragement of any ouster movement at least until it had been shown that Do would be unable to rally sects and form a strong governmental team. We will have to watch French pretty carefully since they are not unnaturally exasperated by unconcealed France-Phobia of Diem team and latter’s lack of any appreciation for necessity French assistance in evacuating Tonkin refugees.
- See footnote 1, p. 1923.↩