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March 3, 2017 | The New York Times
In a New York Times op-ed, U.S. Foreign Policy and International Security Postdoctoral Fellow Sean Fear explains the showdown between two rival generals -- Nguyen Cao Ky and Nguyen Van Thieu -- that ended the hope of democratic stability in South Vietnam.
Both men were young and ambitious, and both were shrewd navigators of the internecine schemes and coups plaguing South Vietnam’s ruling military. And after years of jousting and coalition building, they were headed for a confrontation in South Vietnam’s 1967 presidential election. At stake was the political legitimacy of the South Vietnamese state itself, critical to turning the tide in the protracted struggle against the Communists.