As the CIA’s official history notes, Lansdale’s departure marked the end of an era—“When Lansdale left Saigon in December 1956, he took with him whatever modest capacity the United States had to persuade Ngo Dinh Diem of the need to win the consent of the governed.”76 Maybe it was simply a coincidence, but the post-Lansdale epoch would turn out to be far more sanguinary and far less successful.
