Important Names from the Vietnam Conflict
(Consult the "Cast of Characters" section in Karnow, page 703, for more detail.)
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Vietnamese
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| Bao Dai | Last Emperor of Vietnam |
| Bui Diem | Last Vietnamese Ambassador to the U.S. |
| Duong Van Minh | "Big Minh" led coup against Diem, 1963. Surrendered to Communists in 1975. |
| Ho Chi Minh | Communist Leader of North Vietnam |
| Le Duc Tho | Negotiated Peace Settlement with Kissinger |
| Ngo Dinh Diem | Prime Minister of Vietnam until 1963 |
| Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu | The "Dragon Lady" |
| Ngo Dinh Nhu | Diem's brother and problem maker |
| Nguyen Cao Ky | Prime Minister of Vietnam 1965-1967 |
| Nguyen Van Thieu | President of Vietnam 1967-75 |
| Tri Quang | Buddhist monk--Leader of resistance |
| Vo Nguyen Giap | North Vietnam's greatest general |
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Americans
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| Dwight D. Eisenhower | President 1953-1961 |
| John F. Kennedy | President 1961-1963 |
| Robert F. Kennedy | New York Senator, candidate for President assassinated in 1968. |
| Lyndon B. Johnson | President 1963-1969. Announced decision not to run again in 1968. |
| Richard M. Nixon | President 1969-1974 |
| Gerald R. Ford | President of the U.S. at the time of the fall of Saigon, 1965 |
| George Ball | State Department Critic under JFK, LBJ |
| McGeorge Bundy | National Security Advisor, 1961-1966 |
| William Bundy | Defense Deparment under JFK, LBJ |
| Ellsworth Bunker | Ambassador to Vietnam, 1967-1973 |
| Graham Martin | Last U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam |
| Clark Clifford | Replaced McNamara as SecDef, 1968 |
| J. William Fulbright | U.S. Senator from Arkansas |
| Hubert H. Humphrey | Johnson's V.P., ran against Richard Nixon in 1968. |
| Henry Kissinger | Nixon's NSA, SecState, diplomat |
| Melvin Laird | Nixon's secretary of Defense |
| Henry Cabot Lodge | Two-time ambassador to Vietnam |
| Robert McNamara | JFK and LBJ's SecDef, Architect of War |
| Dean Rusk | Secretary of State under JFK, LBJ |
| William Westmoreland | Headed U.S. MACV 1964-1968 |
| Earle Wheeler | Chairman J.C.S. 1964-1970 |