American officials consoled themselves that, for all his shortcomings, Diem nevertheless shared America’s aims in Asia. A briefing book prepared for Eisenhower on the eve of Diem’s visit declared that Diem “feels that Vietnam in its present situation and given its own heritage is not yet ready for a democratic government. . . . His concept is one of benevolent authoritarianism.” Diem “believes that the Vietnamese people are not the best judges of what is good for them.” While these attitudes prompted some discomfort in Washington, Diem’s anticommunism inoculated him from serious American
...more
