The repressive United States-backed politician who led South Việt Nam from its independence in 1954 until his assassination in 1963 during a coup d’état that was also backed by the United States. Má and Bố work for his government as teachers, but also cope with its repressiveness firsthand (as when a general tries to cut off Bố’s long hair).
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Ngô Đình Diệm Term Timeline in The Best We Could Do
The timeline below shows where the term Ngô Đình Diệm appears in The Best We Could Do. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Preface
...led byHồ Chí Minh, and the capitalist South was run by the Western-backed, antidemocratic leader Ngô Đình Diệm .
(full context)
Chapter 6: The Chessboard
...his grandfather until she nearly gets caught in the crossfire of a street battle between Ngô Đình Diệm ’s government forces and the local mafia, or Bình Xuyên. The shooting destroys her opium...
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...the Teachers College because it guarantees him a job, salary, and a way out of Ngô Đình Diệm ’s military draft. It is at the Teachers College that Bố meets Má.
(full context)
