List of Persons

  • Editor’s Note. This list is designed to provide ready reference for identification of those persons mentioned most frequently. The identification of the persons on this list is generally limited to positions and circumstances under reference in the volume and is confined to the years 1958–1960. All titles and positions are American unless otherwise indicated. Where no dates are given, the individual usually held the position throughout the period covered by the volume. In some cases, however, it has not proved possible to identify the positions held by Vietnamese individuals throughout the triennium.
  • Abbott, George M., Special Assistant for South East Asian Treaty Organization Affairs, Department of State, to March 1958
  • Acheson, Dean, Secretary of State, January 1949–January 1953; thereafter in private law practice
  • Adams, Sherman, Assistant to President Eisenhower to 1958
  • Alphand, Hervé, French Ambassador to the United States
  • Amory, Robert, Jr., Deputy Director of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency
  • Anderson, Daniel Virden, Director, Office of Southeast Asian Affairs, Department of State, from July 1959
  • Anderson, Robert B., Secretary of the Treasury from July 1957
  • Arneson, R. Gordon, Deputy Director, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State, to November 1959
  • Barbour, Robert E., Consul at Hue to September 1958; thereafter Second Secretary and Political Officer of the Embassy in France
  • Barrows, Leland, Director of the United States Operations Mission in Vietnam to December 1958
  • Barthelmy, Marcel, First Secretary, French Embassy in Washington
  • Bell, James D., Director of the Office of Southwest Pacific Affairs, Department of State, from June 1960
  • Black, Colonel Edwin F., USA, Military Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense
  • Boggs, Marion W., Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Security Council from 1959
  • Bowie, Thomas D., Political Counselor of the Embassy in Vietnam to August 1960
  • Brucker, Wilber M., Secretary of the Army
  • Bui Van Luong, Secretary of State for Interior, Republic of Vietnam, from October 1960
  • Burke, Admiral Arleigh A., USN, Chief of Naval Operations
  • Buttinger, Joseph, author and publicist
  • Cabell, General Charles P., USAF, Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
  • Caccia, Sir Harold A., British Ambassador in the United States
  • Campbell, Alan Lockhart, Jr., Consul and Second Secretary of the Embassy in Vietnam until June 1958, Consul at Hue until January 1959
  • Can, see Ngo Dinh Can
  • Carlson, Brigadier General Gunnar C., USA, Deputy Chief for Logistics and Administration of the Military Assistance Advisory Group in Vietnam to October 1958
  • Chapman, Christian George, Second Secretary of the Embassy in Laos to August 1959; thereafter Officer in Charge of Laos Affairs, Department of State
  • Chau, see Nguyen Huu Chau
  • Chen Yi, Marshal, Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China from February 1958
  • Chiang Kai-shek, Generalissimo, President of the Republic of China
  • Chou En-lai, Premier of the State Council and Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China
  • Chuong, see Tran Van Chuong
  • Colby, William E., Political Officer in the Embassy in Vietnam, January–May 1959; thereafter both Political Officer and First Secretary
  • Colegrove, Albert M., journalist of the Scripps-Howard newspapers
  • Collins, General J. Lawton, USA (ret.), member of the Anderson Subcommittee of the Draper Committee; formerly Special Representative of the United States to Vietnam, November 1954–May 1955
  • Comstock, Colonel, Military Attaché at Saigon
  • Coster, Donald Q., Deputy Director, USOM, Vietnam, from November 1959
  • Cottrell, Sterling J., Political Adviser, CINCPAC, from March 1959
  • Cumming, Hugh S., Jr., Director of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
  • Cutler, Robert, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs to June 1958
  • Dai Ta Loc, Lieutenant Colonel, ARVN, Paratrooper Commander, leader in the coup attempt of November 1960
  • Dap Chhuon (Colonel Chhuon Mochulpich), Commander of Cambodian Armed Forces in Siem Riep and Kompong Thom provinces; attempted coup against Prince Sihanouk, February 1959
  • Desai, Manilal Jagdish, Chairman of the International Commission for Supervision and Control of Vietnam
  • Diem, see Ngo Dinh Diem
  • Dillon, C. Douglas, Deputy Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs to June 1958; Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, June 1958–June 1959; thereafter Under Secretary of State
  • Do Cao Tri, Major, ARVN, leader in the coup attempt of November 1960
  • Dong, Lieutenant Colonel, see Vuong Van Dong
  • Douglas, James H., Secretary of the Air Force to December 1959; thereafter Deputy Secretary of Defense
  • Dulles, Allen W., Director of Central Intelligence
  • Dulles, John Foster, Secretary of State to April 1959
  • Dung, see Tran Trung Dung
  • Duong Van Minh (“Big Minh”), Major General, ARVN, Commander, Field Command Headquarters
  • Durbrow, Elbridge, Ambassador to Vietnam
  • Eisenhower, Dwight D., President of the United States
  • Elbrick, C. Burke, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs to October 1958
  • Elting, Howard, Jr., Counselor of Embassy in Vietnam until April 1960
  • Erskine, General Graves B., USMC, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Special Operations
  • Evans, Colonel Robert F., USA, Assistant to the Director, Far East Region, International Security Affairs, Office of the Secretary of Defense, as of June 1959
  • Felt, Admiral Harry D., USN, Commander in Chief, Pacific from July 1958.
  • Fine, Sherwood M., Chief, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand Division, International Cooperation Administration, from December 1958
  • Fink, Andrew J., III, Second Secretary and Political Officer in the Embassy in Vietnam from November 1958
  • Fishel, Wesley R., Chief Adviser of the Michigan State University Advisory Group at the National Institute of Administration in Vietnam to March 1958
  • FitzGerald, Dr. D.A., Deputy Director for Operations, International Cooperation Administration
  • Fox, Lieutenant General Alonzo P., USA, Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense to 1959
  • Frechtling, Louis E., Special Assistant, Economic Programs, Office of Coordinator for Mutual Security, from September 1959
  • French, Jerome T., member of the Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Special Operations as of 1960
  • Fulbright, J. William, Senator from Arkansas, Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1959
  • Gardiner, Arthur Z., Counselor for Economic Affairs and Deputy Director, USOM, Vietnam, February–November 1958; thereafter Director, USOM
  • Gleason, S. Everett, Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Security Council to 1959
  • Goodpaster, Brigadier General Andrew J., USA, Staff Secretary to the President
  • Gorce, Pierre M., French Ambassador to Cambodia
  • Gore, Albert E., Senator from Tennessee, member of the Subcommittee on State Department Organization and Public Affairs, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
  • Grant, William B., Second Secretary and Political Officer in the Embassy in Vietnam, March 1958–August 1960
  • Gray, Gordon, Director of the Office of Defense Mobilization to July 1958; thereafter Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
  • Green, Marshall, Special Assistant for Political and Military Affairs, Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs, Department of State, until July 1959; Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs, July–October 1959; Counselor of Embassy in Korea from November 1959; Counselor and Consul-General from March 1960
  • Gromyko, Andrei Andreevich, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union
  • Ha Thuc Luyen, principal deputy of Ngo Dinh Can; Chief of Thua Thien Province, Republic of Vietnam
  • Hagerty, James C, Press Secretary to the President
  • Hammarskjöld, Dag, Secretary-General of the United Nations
  • Hare, Raymond A., Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from January 1960
  • Heavner, Theodore J. C, Second Secretary of the Embassy in Vietnam, June–October 1958; Vice Consul at Hue, October 1958–December 1960
  • Henderson, Loy W., Deputy Under Secretary of State for Administration
  • Herter, Christian A., Under Secretary of State and Chairman of the Operations Coordinating Board until April 1959; thereafter Secretary of State
  • Hickenlooper, Bourke B., Senator from Iowa, member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
  • Ho Chi Minh (Nguyen Ai Quoc), President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam; Chairman and General Secretary of Lao Dong Party
  • Ho Van Nhut, South Vietnamese opposition leader and Vice-Chairman, Vietnamese Red Cross
  • Hoang Co Thuy, South Vietnamese civilian leader in the coup attempt of November 1960
  • Hollister, John B., Director of the International Cooperation Administration to March 1959
  • Houghton, Amory, Ambassador to France
  • Humphrey, George M., Secretary of the Treasury to July 1957
  • Huynh Van Lang, Head of the Office of Exchange and Head of the Can Lao Party Finance Bureau, Republic of Vietnam
  • Irwin, John N., II Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from September 1958
  • Jarvis, Francis Girard, Officer in Charge of Economic Affairs, Office of Southwest Pacific Affairs, Department of State
  • Jones, Howard P., Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs to February 1958
  • Kent, Sherman, Chairman, Board of National Estimates
  • Knight, Robert H., Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
  • Kocher, Eric, Deputy Director of the Office of Southeast Asian Affairs, Department of State, to January 1958; Director, January 1958–June 1959
  • Ladejinsky, Wolf, Adviser to President Diem
  • Lalouette, Roger, French Ambassador to the Republic of Vietnam from September 1958
  • Lam Le Trinh, Minister of Interior, Republic of Vietnam, from February 1958
  • Lampert, Brigadier General J.B., USA, Deputy Chief of the Military Assistance Advisory Group in Vietnam for Logistics, November 1958–December 1960
  • Lansdale, Colonel Edward G., USAF, Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Special Operations
  • Lausche, Frank J., Senator from Ohio
  • Lay, James S., Jr., Executive Secretary of the National Security Council to 1959
  • Le Duan, Secretary, Lao Dong Party, Democratic Republic of Vietnam
  • Le Trong Quat, Chairman, Socialist Alliance (Minority Bloc in National Assembly of the Republic of Vietnam)
  • Le Van Dong, “Liberal” South Vietnamese politician and Minister of Agriculture Le Van Kim, Brigadier General, ARVN, Commander of the Military Academy at Dalat
  • Le Van Ty, General, and Chief of Staff, South Vietnamese Joint General Staff
  • Lemnitzer, General Lyman Louis, USA, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army to July 1959; Chief of Staff, July 1959–September 1960
  • MacDonald, Malcolm, British High Commissioner for India
  • Macmillan, Harold, British Prime Minister
  • Mansfield, Michael J., Senator from Montana, Chairman of the Subcommittee on State Department Organization and Public Affairs, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
  • Marcy, Carl, Chief of Staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
  • Mau, see Vu Van Mau
  • McElhiney, Thomas W., Deputy Director of the Executive Secretariat, Department of State, from September 1958 to mid-1960
  • McElroy, Neil H., Secretary of Defense to December 1959
  • McGarr, Lieutenant General Lionel C., USA, Chief, MAAG Vietnam from September 1960
  • McGee, Gale, Senator from Wyoming
  • Mendenhall, Joseph A., Officer in Charge of Vietnamese Affairs, Department of State, March 1958–July 1959; thereafter Counselor of Embassy in Vietnam for Political Affairs
  • Menzies, Austin, Reports Officer of USOM, Vietnam, Program Support Division
  • Merchant, Livingston, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs from October1958; Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from August 1959; Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from December 1959
  • Minh (“Big Minh”), see Duong Van Minh
  • Minnich, L. Arthur, Jr., Assistant Staff Secretary to the President
  • Morse, Wayne, Senator from Oregon
  • Murphy, Lieutenant Colonel J.A., USA, Office of the Chief of Staff, Department of Army, Office of the Chief of Civil Affairs and Military Government
  • Murphy, Robert D., Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs to August 1959
  • Myers, Major General Samuel L., USA, Deputy Chief for Training of the Military Assistant Advisory Group in Vietnam to November 1958; thereafter Assistant Deputy Chief of Army Staff for Logistics
  • Nehru, Pandit Jawaharlal, Prime Minister of India and Minister for External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations
  • Ngo Dinh Can, brother of Ngo Dinh Diem (unofficial “boss” of Hue and central Vietnam)
  • Ngo Dinh Diem, President and Chief of State of the Republic of Vietnam
  • Ngo Dinh Luyen, Ambassador-at-Large of the Republic of Vietnam; Vietnamese Ambassador to the United Kingdom to 1959; also Minister to Belgium and Netherlands, 1958–1959; thereafter Ambassador to Tunisia; youngest brother of Ngo Dinh Diem
  • Ngo Dinh Nhu, Secretary-General of the Personalist Revolutionary Workers Party of Vietnam; brother and counselor to Ngo Dinh Diem
  • Ngo Dinh Thuc, Archbishop of Hue and Primate of the Roman Catholic episcopacy in the Republic of Vietnam; brother of Ngo Dinh Diem
  • Nguyen Chanh Thi, Colonel, ARVN, Airborne Brigade Commander; principal leader in the coup attempt of November 1960
  • Nguyen Dinh Thuan, Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Republic of Vietnam from 1958 to 1960; Assistant Secretary of Defense from October 1960
  • Nguyen Huu Chau, Secretary General to the Presidency of Vietnam, and Minister of Interior until March 1958
  • Nguyen Huu Hanh, Director General, National Bank of Vietnam
  • Nguyen Khanh, General, ARVN, Permanent Secretary General for National Defense 1958 to 1960; appointed Chief of Staff of the General Staff of the Vietnamese Armed Forces and Deputy Chief of Staff for the Army in 1960
  • Nguyen Ngoc Tho, Vice President of the Republic of Vietnam
  • Nguyen Thanh Phuong, Vietnamese Minister of State until May 1955; Commander of Cao Dai forces
  • Nguyen Van Buu, Can Lao Party’s Financial Adviser
  • Nguyen Van Hinh, Former Vietnamese Chief of Staff of the Army
  • Nguyen Van Luong, Vietnam’s Secretary of State for Justice from October 18, 1960
  • Nguyen Van Tarn, former Vietnamese Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior
  • Nguyen Van Thoai, former Vietnamese Secretary of State for Economic Affairs
  • Nhu, Madame, see Tran Le Xuan
  • Nhu, see Ngo Dinh Nhu
  • Nixon, Richard M., Vice President of the United States
  • O’Donnell, Rear Admiral Edward J., USN, Regional Director, Far East, Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
  • Palmer, Gardner E., Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Economic Affairs to November 1959
  • Palmer, General Williston B., USA, Director of Military Assistance, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, from 1960
  • Parkes, Roderick W., British Ambassador to Vietnam
  • Parsons, J. Graham, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs, March 1958–June 1959; thereafter Assistant Secretary
  • Pearson, Lester B., Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs to June 1957; Canadian Representative to the United Nations General Assembly, November1956–March 1957
  • Peterson, Avery F., Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Economic Affairs from November 1959
  • Pham Cong Tac, leader of Cao Dai sect, Vietnam
  • Pham Dang Lam, Secretary General of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Vietnam
  • Pham Van Dong, Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from September 1955
  • Pham Van Nhu, President of National Assembly and Head of Administrative Bureau of Can Lao Party, Republic of Vietnam
  • Pham Xuan Chieu, General, Chief of Staff, ARVN
  • Phan Huy Quat, Former Vietnamese Minister of Defense
  • Phan Khac Suu, Independent Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Vietnam from September 1959
  • Phan Quang Dan, Independent Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Vietnam, elected September 1959, but not permitted to take his seat; charged with election fraud
  • Phuong, see Nguyen Thanh Phuong
  • Pilcher, J.L., Representative from Georgia
  • Pinay, Antoine, French Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, June 1958–January 1960
  • Quat, see Phan Huy Quat
  • Reinhardt, G. Frederick, Ambassador to Vietnam, April 1955–February 1957; Counselor of the Department of State, March 1957–January 1960
  • Rhee, Dr. Syngman, President of the Republic of Korea until April 1960
  • Richards, Arthur Lincoln, Operations Coordinator in the Office of the Under Secretary of State to July 1958
  • Riley, Vice Admiral H.D., USN, Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief, Pacific, from February 1958
  • Robbins, B.A., Jr., Captain, USN, Regional Director, Far East, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (International Security Affairs)
  • Robertson, Walter S., Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs until June1959
  • Roseman, Alvin, Director, Far East Region, International Communications Agency
  • Rousseau, James T., Second Secretary and Political Officer in the Embassy in Vietnam
  • Saccio, Leonard J., General Counsel of the International Cooperation Administration to August 1958; thereafter Deputy Director
  • Sainteny, Jean, Delegate General of France in North Vietnam
  • Sam Sary, Life Member of the King of Cambodia’s High Council; Cambodian Ambassador to London until June 1958; Deputy leader of Khmer Serei rebel group after February 1959
  • Scott, Sir Robert Heatlie, Commissioner General for the United Kingdom in Southeast Asia (Singapore)
  • Sheppard, William J., Regional Director of Far Eastern Operations, International Cooperation Administration
  • Sihanouk, Norodom, Prince, Leader of Sangkum (Popular Socialist Community);Prime Minister of Cambodia from June 1958; Head of State of Cambodia from June 1960
  • Smith, Bromley, Executive Secretary of the Operations Coordinating Board
  • Smith, General Walter Bedell, USA (ret.), former Director of Central Intelligence and Under Secretary of State
  • Son Ngoc Thanh, Cambodian Democratic Party leader; first post-World War II Prime Minister; head of rebel group Khmer Serei (Free Khmer)
  • Sprague, Mansfield D., Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs to September 1958
  • Spurgin, C. Richard, Third Secretary of the Embassy in Vietnam to August 1959; in the Office of Southeast Asian Affairs, Department of State, from September 1959
  • Steeves, John M., Political Adviser to the Commander in Chief, Pacific (Honolulu),until February 1959; Consul General at Hong Kong and Macau, March 1959–October 1959; thereafter Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far East Affairs
  • Stump, Admiral Felix B., USN, Commander in Chief, Pacific and Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet to February 1958; thereafter Commander in Chief, Pacific to August 1958
  • Taylor, General Maxwell D., USA, Chief of Staff, United States Army until June 1959
  • Thi, see Nguyen Chanh Thi
  • Tho, see Nguyen Ngoc Tho
  • Thuan, see Nguyen Dinh Thuan
  • Tomlinson, Frank Stanley, Head of the Southeast Asia Department of the British Foreign Office
  • Tran Chanh Thanh, Secretary of State for Information, Republic of Vietnam
  • Tran Huu The, Secretary of State for Education, Republic of Vietnam
  • Tran Kim Tuyen, Director of Special Political Studies Branch (secret police) of the Can Lao, Republic of Vietnam
  • Tran Le Xuan (Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu), wife of Ngo Dinh Nhu, official hostess for President Diem; founder of Women’s Solidarity Movement, Republic of Vietnam
  • Tran Sanh Buu, Independent Member of National Assembly of the Republic of Vietnam from September 1959
  • Tran Trung Dung, Assistant Secretary of State for Defense, Republic of Vietnam, to October 1960
  • Tran Van Chuong, Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States Tran Van Dinh, Director General for Information, Republic of Vietnam, from October 1960
  • Tran Van Don, General, ARVN, Commander, 1st Corps
  • Tran Van Ngon, Independent Member of National Assembly of the Republic of Vietnam from September 1959
  • Tran Van Van, South Vietnamese opposition leader; former Minister of National Economy under Bao Dai
  • Truong Chin, Vice-Premier of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from April 1958
  • Tuyen, see Tran Kim Tuyen
  • Twining, General Nathan F., USAF, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to September 1960
  • Ty, see Le Van Ty, General
  • Valdes, Philip H., Officer in Charge of French Affairs, Department of State
  • Vo Nguyen Giap, General, Commander in Chief of the Vietnam People’s Army, Democratic Republic of Vietnam; also Vice Premier
  • Vo Nhu Nguyen, Head of Can Lao Intelligence and Security Bureau, Republic of Vietnam
  • Vo Van Hai, Chief of President Diem’s private secretariat as of November 1960
  • Vu Thin Huan, Member of Social Affairs, Bureau of Presidency, Republic of Vietnam
  • Vu Van Mau, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Republic of Vietnam
  • Vu Van Thai, Director General of the Budget and Foreign Aid, Republic of Vietnam
  • Vuong Van Dong, Lieutenant Colonel, ARVN, Airborne Battalion Commander; principal leader in the coup attempt of November 1960
  • Walton, Frank, Chief, USOM, Saigon, Public Safety Division
  • White, Lieutenant General Isaac D., USA, Commander in Chief, Pacific
  • Whittington, Floyd L., Officer in Charge of Economic Affairs, Office of Southeast Asian Affairs, Department of State, from August 1956; Deputy Director, Office of Southeast Asian Affairs, Department of State, January–August 1958; thereafter Counselor for Economic Affairs in the Embassy in Thailand
  • Williams, Lieutenant General Samuel T., USA, Chief of the Military Assistance Advisory Group in Vietnam to September 1960
  • Willston, B. Palmer, Director of Military Assistance, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (ISA)
  • Wisner, Frank G., Deputy Director for Plans, Central Intelligence Agency
  • Wolf, Charles, Jr., member of the Anderson Subcommittee of the Draper Committee, 1958–1959
  • Wood, Chalmers B., Second Secretary and Political Officer in the Embassy in Vietnam to September 1959; thereafter Officer in Charge of Vietnam Affairs, Department of State
  • Zablocki, Clement J., Representative from Wisconsin, Chairman of the Far East Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee