Nguyễn Khánh (Vietnamese: [ŋwiəŋ˨˩˦ kʰan˦˥]}; 8 November 1927 – 11 January 2013) was a Vietnamese military officer and politician. A general of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, he was the leader of South Vietnam from January 1964 until February 1965 while at the head of a military junta, serving during that time in various capacities, alternatively as head of state and as prime minister. He was involved in or against many coup attempts, failed and successful, from 1960 until his defeat and exile from South Vietnam in 1965. Khánh lived out his later years with his family in exile in the United States. He died in 2013 in San Jose, California, at age 85.
Khánh was born in Trà Vinh in the Mekong Delta region in the far south of Vietnam (then under jurisdiction of the French Cochinchina). His mother was a property manager in the Central Highlands resort town of Đà Lạt, and lived away from the family home in the deep south. Khánh's father was a wealthy landlord who lived in the Mekong Delta with a mistress, the popular cải lương performer Phùng Há. Khánh was brought up by his de facto stepmother. Trà Vinh is a border town near Cambodia and the family moved between both countries. Khánh began his education in Cambodia and when he grew up, he moved to Saigon to study at an elite French school, boarding with wealthy relatives.
In late 1945, Khánh finished his secondary studies and along with 20 fellow high school graduates left Saigon to join the communist-dominated Việt Minh, led by Ho Chi Minh, which sought to gain independence from French colonialism. The August Revolution had just occurred and Hồ had declared independence from France in the aftermath of World War II in September under the newly proclaimed Democratic Republic of Vietnam. In his early military years, Khánh came across many other young recruits who would rise up the ranks alongside him and variously become allies and bitter rivals. One of Khánh's Việt Minh instructors was his future enemy Phạm Ngọc Thảo, who later joined the anti-communist forces while remaining a Việt Minh agent. Khánh's unit became the 410th Battalion and went on to fight near Cà Mau, the southernmost part of Vietnam. They started with only pieces of bamboo and had to capture or steal their weapons.
However, Khánh soon left Hồ's forces after 15 months. He claimed that he had left the Việt Minh because of its communist inclinations, but critics claimed that he was simply switching sides because the French-backed State of Vietnam offered him more opportunities for advancement and better pay. Another account says that Khánh's unit was relieved by a larger and stronger unit that was better trained and indoctrinated in communist ideology, and that Khánh's band were "too tired" after their tour of duty and did not have the "proper discipline". Khánh claimed they were removed because they were nationalists rather than communists.
In 1946, he graduated from the French Military Academy Saint-Cyr/Coëtquidan and was promoted to "Indochine", and the Ecole des Troupes Aéroportées (Airborne forces) in France. In 1947, he graduated from the Vien Dong (Dap Da) Military Academy and Saumur (France) Military Academy, with the rank of lieutenant. His first assignment was as a Platoon Leader of the 1st Battalion, Attaché Officer to the Prime Minister.
Early years in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Khánh then joined the Vietnamese National Army (VNA) of the French-backed State of Vietnam under the leadership of former Emperor Bảo Đại. The State of Vietnam was an associated state of the French Union and fought in the First Indochina War alongside French forces against the Việt Minh.
Khánh was part of the first batch of Vietnamese officers trained by the French in the country. Of the 17 students who started the course, only 11 passed. The six that failed to finish and eight of the graduates defected and joined the Việt Minh. Khánh was one of only three to join the VNA. Khánh claimed he tried to dissuade his classmates to not join the Việt Minh as they were communist, but he also briefly rejoined Hồ's side before being commissioned with the VNA.
From 1949 to 1952, he was a lieutenant and commanded the first airborne unit in the VNA after being sent to France for training. He was then promoted to the rank of captain and commanded the first ever VNA airborne drop, participating in the Hòa Bình Operation in northern Vietnam under the command of General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny. Khánh jumped with his paratroopers into the Hòa Bình after a heavy French defeat and carried out a rearguard action to cover the French retreat. He was wounded and ended as a regimental combat team. In an interview with the journalist Stanley Karnow in 1966, Khánh spoke with much pride of his service under de Lattre de Tassigny, saying "We campaigned together all over the country", though Karnow noted that Khánh was being somewhat misleading in suggesting that he and de Lattre de Tassigny were friends. In another interview with Karnow in 1981, Khánh stated he became disillusioned when he learned that as an Asian man the French would always look down on him, which led him to favor the idea of a "third force" of anti-Communist Vietnamese nationalists who would be equally opposed to the French. In common with the other newly independent states in Africa and Asia, in the State of Vietnam there was a shortage of officers, especially for high command positions, and Khánh rose rapidly up the ranks. After the partition of Vietnam, Khánh was chosen by President Ngô Đình Diệm as the inaugural commander (titled "Chief of Staff") of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force. He took a crash course in flying, and took to the air unaccompanied after 11 hours of instruction.
From 1956 to 1957, he was promoted to colonel and commanded the First Infantry Division stationed at the 17th Parallel. In 1957, he was chosen to attend the US Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, US Joint & Combined School in Okinawa, Japan, and he graduated from the US High Command as Chief of Staff in France. In 1957, he was assigned as Region Commander of the Hậu Giang region, consisting of Kiến Hòa, Mỹ Tho and Vĩnh Long. He was appointed Secretary General of the Defense Ministry in 1959. In 1960, Khánh was promoted to major general and made ARVN Chief of Staff.
In November 1960, mutinous paratroopers attempted to depose Diệm, and laid siege to Gia Long Palace. Khánh arrived on the scene and climbed over the palace wall to reach Diệm during the siege. Khánh lived close to the palace, and the plotters had tried to put him under house arrest at the start of the coup, but were unaware that he moved houses. Khánh proceeded to coordinate the loyalist defenders, along with Ky Quan Liem, the deputy director of the Civil Guard. During the standoff, Khánh met with rebel officers to keep abreast of their demands that Diệm share power. He then advised Diệm to resign due to the demands of the rebel forces and protestors outside the palace, but the president refused.
Khánh used the remaining communication lines to appeal to other senior officers outside Saigon to help, and two divisions near Saigon complied. He convinced Lê Nguyên Khang, the head of the Republic of Vietnam Marine Corps to contribute. Diệm advised Khánh to continue negotiating, and a ceasefire was organised. Diệm promised reforms, but then reneged and crushed the coup.
Khánh's actions gained him a reputation of having helped the president, but he was later criticised for having a foot in both camps. Critics claimed that Khánh had been on good terms with the rebels and decided against rebelling when it was clear that Diệm would win. Khánh was later dispatched to the Central Highlands as the commander of the II Corps. His American advisers were impressed with him and regarded him as an effective force against the Việt Cộng. Khánh also tried to win over the indigenous Montagnard tribesmen, trying to learn their languages.
Khánh participated in the 1963 South Vietnamese coup led by General Dương Văn Minh that deposed Diệm, playing a minor role. Khánh expected a large reward, but the junta instead sidelined him, excluding him from the twelve-man Military Revolutionary Council (MRC). In mid-December he was moved from the II Corps in the central highlands to the command of the I Corps of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, based around Huế and Đà Nẵng in the far north of the Republic of Vietnam. This, it was speculated, was to keep him as far away from Saigon as possible, as he was regarded by the others as being untrustworthy.