JFK's Final Days: November 1, 1963
On November 1, 1963 (50 years ago today) President John F. Kennedy was woken up at 3:00 a.m. by his National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy with the news that the predicted coup in South Vietnam was taking place. Here is how author Thurston Clarke describes what happened in his recent book JFK's Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President at page 279:
Bundy woke Kennedy just after 3:00 a.m. to report that the South Vietnamese Generals had launched their coup. Three hours later, a CIA cable described "heavy fighting, including armor, small arms, and possibly some light artillery, vicinity Palace as of 15:30 hours [Saigon time]." At an early morning White House staff briefing, [Michael] Forrestal called the putsch "much better than anyone would have thought possible." Bundy said the action was "an acceptable type of military coup."
Kennedy convened his advisers in the cabinet room, and after hearing more optimistic reports, he said "I think we have to make it clear that this is not an American coup." Among the cables to Lodge he approved that morning was one urging him to persuade the generals to bear seven points in mind. These included: "Practical evidence of determination to prosecute war win renewed vigor; Reprisals at a minimum; Safe passages for families [of Diem and Nhu] to exile; Humane treatment for arrestees.
Kennedy would not get everything on his wish list. Diem and Nhu were captured and executed the following day.
Bundy woke Kennedy just after 3:00 a.m. to report that the South Vietnamese Generals had launched their coup. Three hours later, a CIA cable described "heavy fighting, including armor, small arms, and possibly some light artillery, vicinity Palace as of 15:30 hours [Saigon time]." At an early morning White House staff briefing, [Michael] Forrestal called the putsch "much better than anyone would have thought possible." Bundy said the action was "an acceptable type of military coup."
Kennedy convened his advisers in the cabinet room, and after hearing more optimistic reports, he said "I think we have to make it clear that this is not an American coup." Among the cables to Lodge he approved that morning was one urging him to persuade the generals to bear seven points in mind. These included: "Practical evidence of determination to prosecute war win renewed vigor; Reprisals at a minimum; Safe passages for families [of Diem and Nhu] to exile; Humane treatment for arrestees.
Kennedy would not get everything on his wish list. Diem and Nhu were captured and executed the following day.