Proclamation of South Vietnam's Presidency

Date: October 26, 1955 • Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam

Ngô Đình Diệm proclaimed himself president of the newly created Republic of Vietnam after defeating former emperor Bảo Đại in a fraudulent referendum supervised by his brother Ngô Đình Nhu.

Ngô Đình Diệm was a South Vietnamese politician. He was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955), and later the first president of South Vietnam from 1955 until his capture and assassination during the CIA-backed 1963 coup d'état.