{"product_id":"the-lost-mandate-of-heaven-the-american-betrayal-of-ngo-dinh-diem-president-of-vietnam","title":"The Lost Mandate of Heaven: The American Betrayal of Ngo Dinh Diem, President of Vietnam","description":"\u003cp\u003eNgo Dinh Diem, the first president of the Republic of Vietnam, possessed the Confucian \"Mandate of Heaven\", a moral and political authority that was widely recognized by all Vietnamese. This devout Roman Catholic leader never lost this mandate in the eyes of his people; rather, he was taken down by a military coup sponsored by the U.S. government, which resulted in his brutal murder.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe commonly held view runs contrary to the above assertion by military historian Geoffrey Shaw. According to many American historians, President Diem was a corrupt leader whose tyrannical actions lost him the loyalty of his people and the possibility of a military victory over the North Vietnamese. The Kennedy Administration, they argue, had to withdraw its support of Diem.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBased on his research of original sources, including declassified documents of the U.S. government, Shaw chronicles the Kennedy administration's betrayal of this ally, which proved to be not only a moral failure but also a political disaster that led America into a protracted and costly war. Along the way, Shaw reveals a President Diem very different from the despot portrayed by the press during its coverage of Vietnam. From eyewitness accounts of military, intelligence, and diplomatic sources, Shaw draws the portrait of a man with rare integrity, a patriot who strove to free his country from Western colonialism while protecting it from Communism.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ignatius Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51944121893095,"sku":"9781621646136","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0449\/4075\/5096\/files\/imageloader_2471d7ac-1002-464b-8d2d-cd8c8e7186b7.jpg?v=1775353135","url":"https:\/\/arvidabookco.com\/products\/the-lost-mandate-of-heaven-the-american-betrayal-of-ngo-dinh-diem-president-of-vietnam","provider":"Arvida Book Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}