General Duong Van Minh (born 1916) was the first and last of a string of leaders who governed South Vietnam in the dozen years between the overthrow of President Diem and the fall of Saigon.

In 1963, Duong Van Minh represented pro-American, anti-communist values. By 1975 he remained the only figure of stature who could negotiate with North Vietnamese forces and avert a bloody end to the Vietnam War. Duong Van Minh's military career spanned decades of conflict. He gained an early reputation for bravery, honesty, and leadership in the field and quickly rose to national prominence. In his later career, however, power remained just beyond his reach and he was eventually forced into exile.

French Colonial Era

Minh was born into a wealthy Vietnamese family on February 19, 1916, in the Mekong River delta village of My Tho in Long An Province, just 35 miles southwest of Saigon. After graduating from a high...