Gift of State from Ngo Dinh Diem to President Eisenhower
11/14/1954
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South Vietnamese President Diem presented this tusk lamp to President Eisenhower on November 14, 1954.
Earlier in 1954, the Geneva Accords had called for a temporary partition of Vietnam at the 17th Parallel—creating a Communist state in the North and a French-backed non-Communist state in the South. The agreement called for an election to reunify the two zones in 1956.
Eisenhower believed "losing" South Vietnam to communism would be a strategic, economic, and humanitarian disaster. So he pledged support to an emerging leader—Ngo Dinh Diem—a devout Catholic and fervent anti-French, anti-Communist nationalist. Diem faced multiple threats: some members of his inherited government and military were associated with the hated French; mobsters controlled much of Saigon; and French-supported armed religious sects and military officers challenged his leadership. Against all odds, Diem consolidated power; though the “Diem Miracle” would prove to be short-lived.
This primary source comes from the Collection DDE-1331: Dwight D. Eisenhower Library Museum Collection.
Full Citation: Museum Object 60-882; Gift of State from Ngo Dinh Diem to President Eisenhower; 11/14/1954; Gifts of State Received by President and Mrs. Eisenhower, 1953 - 1961; Collection DDE-1331: Dwight D. Eisenhower Library Museum Collection; Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, KS. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/gift-ngo-dinh-diem-president-eisenhower, May 2, 2024]