Finding the Dragon Lady Read online

  and government overthrows, 208

  and political prisoners, 131

  US aid to, 90, 121, 128, 131

  and Vietnamese exodus, 80–81

  Westernization of, 128

  Soviet Union, 73–74

  Spellman, Francis (cardinal), 77

  Spence, Virginia, 81–82

  St. Elizabeth’s psychiatric hospital, 13–14

  Strategic Hamlets Program, 130

  Sully, Francois, 139

  The Tale of Kieu, 23–24

  Tang Thi Ut, 124

  Taoism, 157

  Tassigny, Jean de Lattre de, 112–113

  Taylor, Maxwell, 200, 201, 210

  Thach, James van, 104–106

  Thich Quang Duc, 160–161, 163

  Tiger Lady, 117

  Time magazine, 144, 147, 176, 179, 197, 217

  Times of Vietnam, 141–143, 162, 206

  Tokyo Rose, 2

  Ton That Dinh, 203–204

  Tran Thi Le Chi, 15, 19, 103, 104

  suicide attempt of, 108–109

  Tran Thi Le Xuan (later Madame Nhu) and astrologer/fortune-teller’s prediction, 20

  birth of, 17–19

  bridal portrait of, 40

  bride price for, 39

  and brother, 27–28

  and Catholicism, 36, 39

  and domestic help, daily upbringing by, 24–25

  education of, 27, 30–31, 33

  and family move from Hanoi to countryside without, 23–26

  in French Quarter (Hanoi), 30

  grandparents as caretakers of, 23–25

  and move from countryside to Hanoi, 29–30, 31

  as newborn, 19–20

  and Ngo Dinh Nhu, betrothal to, 37

  and Ngo Dinh Nhu, introduction to, 35–36

  and Ngo Dinh Nhu, marriage to, 37, 39–40

  personality of, 25

  and role as middle-daughter, 27

  serious illness of, 25

  as “switched” child, 25

  and traditional Vietnamese family life, 26

  Western influence on, 31

  Tran Thi Nam Tran. See Tran Van Chuong, Madame

  Tran Van Chuong and ambassadorial post, resignation of, 166

  ancestry of, 9, 18

  burial of, 15–16

  and communism, 47

  in Dalat, 62

  and daughter (Madame Nhu), and refusal to forgive, 214–215

  and daughter (Madame Nhu), call for ouster of, 171

  and daughter (Madame Nhu),

  public disowning of, 9, 10

  and daughter (Madame Nhu), rapprochement between, 11

  and daughter (Madame Nhu), refusal to receive, in Washington, DC, 187–190, 214

  and daughter (Madame Nhu) and Ngo brothers, insults to, 187–188

  and daughter (Madame Nhu) as child, and move from Hanoi to countryside without, 23–26

  description of, 11, 35

  and Diem regime, undermining of, 214–215

  education of, 22

  as fourteen-year-old groom, 21–22

  and French secret police, salacious account by, 34–35

  and Hanoi Bar, appointment to serve on, 29

  and Ho Chi Minh, donations to government of, 60

  and Japanese, collaboration with, 61, 103

  in Japanese cabinet position, 39

  and Japanese versus French, 38–39

  marriage of, 20–21

  murder of, 9, 10, 11–14, 215, 220

  retirement of, 10

  and Saigon, safe passage to, 61

  and son, Tran Van Khiem, and family living with, 13

  as South Vietnamese ambassador to United States, 9–10, 96

  and Tuesday salons, 38

  Western influence on, 21

  will of, 13, 14–15

  Tran Van Chuong, Madame (also Madame Chuong, Nam Tran Tran Van Chuong; Tran Thi Nam Tran)

  and ambassadorial post, resignation of, 166

  ancestry of, 9, 18

  birth date of, 20

  burial of, 15–16

  and communism, 47

  in Dalat, 62

  and daughter (Madame Nhu), and refusal to forgive, 214–215

  and daughter (Madame Nhu), call for ouster of, 171

  and daughter (Madame Nhu), insults to, 190

  and daughter (Madame Nhu), public disowning of, 9, 10

  and daughter (Madame Nhu), refusal to receive, in Washington, DC, 187–190, 214

  and daughter (Madame Nhu) as child, and move from Hanoi to countryside without, 23–26

  and daughter (Madame Nhu) as child, and “switched” child suspicion, 25

  and daughter (Madame Nhu) as child, birth of, 17–19

  and daughter (Madame Nhu) as child, rescue of, 108

  and daughter (Madame Nhu) as newborn, 19–20

  as granddaughter of emperor, 20

  and daughters, educational opportunities for, 26

  and daughters, relationship with, 20

  description of, 11, 35

  and Diem regime, undermining of, 214–215

  French influences on, 33–34

  and French secret police, salacious account by, 34–35

  and Ho Chi Minh, donations to government of, 60

  and Japanese, collaboration with, 61

  and Japanese versus French, 35, 38–39

  and love affairs, 35, 39

  marriage of, 20–21

  murder of, 9, 10, 11–14, 215, 220

  as Pearl of Asia, 18

  as princess, 9, 18, 20

  reputation of, 56

  retirement of, 10

  and Saigon, safe passage to, 61

  and social life, 34

  and son, Tran Van Khiem, 12, 13, 22–23

  as South Vietnamese observer at United Nations, 96

  and Tuesday salons, 38

  as two-year-old-bride, 20

  Western influence on, 20–21

  will of, 13, 14–15

  Tran Van Khiem

  as adult, and living with parents, 13

  birth of, 22–23

  education of, 96

  imprisonment and torture of, 12–13, 14

  and Ngo Dinh Diem, 12

  and parents, disappointment to, 96

  and parents, murder of, 10, 11–14, 220

  and parents, will of, 13, 14–15

  as psychiatric patient, 13–14

  and sister (Madame Nhu), and appointment as palace spokesman, 96

  Tran Van Thong, 21–22

  Truck bombing, March 22, 1961, 123–124

  Truman, Harry, 187

  Trung sisters, 123, 125–126

  U Nu, Mrs., 100

  UN Day, 197

  United Nations, 96

  United States

  and aid to South Vietnam, 90, 121, 128, 131

  and Asians as feminized peoples, 149

  and Binh Xuyen, 89

  and Buddhist monk, self-immolation of, 161

  and communism, 132

  and Diem regime, conspiracy against, 198, 216–217

  and fake body counts, 121–122

  and Geneva Accords, 73–74, 79

  and ideal woman, stereotype of, 148–150

  and Johnson, Lyndon, and entourage in South Vietnam, 117, 118–120

  and Ngo Dinh Diem, 76–77, 88, 131–132

  and Nhu, Madame, and banishment to Belgrade, and travels abroad, 166–167

  and Nhu, Madame, criticism of, 2, 140–141, 162, 181–182, 190–191, 214, 216

  racism in, 149

  and Saigon coup of 1963, criticism of, and Nhu, Madame, 214, 216

  and Saigon coup of 1963, support of, 175, 198–210, 214

  and South Vietnam, involvement in, criticism of, 136–137

  in South Vietnam, criticism of, 141

  Tran van Chuong as ambassador to, 96

  and Viet Minh, and missions against, 75

  US Day Rally, 197

  US Information Service, 141

  US State Department, 8
0–81, 88

  Vann, John Paul, 140–141

  Viet Cong. See National Liberation Front

  Viet Minh, 47, 80

  and communism/Communists, 80, 94

  and First Indochina War, 63

  and Ngo Dinh Diem, 76

  and Ngo Dinh Nhu, and shelter in Catholic Church, 60

  and Nhu, Madame, and bridge/battleground crossing with infant daughter, 53–54

  and Nhu, Madame, and detonation of piano, 51

  and Nhu, Madame, capture of, 48–57

  and Nhu, Madame, release of, 57

  and US missions against Japanese, 75

  Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang (VNQDD), 32

  “Vietnam,” 31

  Vietnam: A History (Karnow), 140, 217

  Vietnam War, 218

  Vietnamese

  French prejudice against, 32

  religion of, 157–158

  Vietnamese stories, 23–24

  Vietnamese tradition

  and behavior of children, 13

  and betrothals, 37

  and blackened teeth, 20–21

  and bride price, 39

  and creation story, 54

  and daughter-in-law as prized possession, 19

  and domestic femininity, 26–27

  and hair and clothing style, 20

  and male vs. female births, 18–19

  and marriage, 20

  and middle-daughter, role of, 27

  and mother myth, 54

  and newborn and mother, 20

  and polygamy, 19

  and women, role of, 24, 26–27, 34

  See also Confucianism/Confucian tradition

  VNQDD. See Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang

  Warner, Denis, 11

  The White Pebble (Le Caillou Blanc; Madame Nhu), 194

  Women

  Asian, stereotype of, 2, 148–149

  and feminist movement, 150

  and ideal woman, stereotype of, 148–150

  powerful, criticism of, 150–151

  role of, 24, 26–27, 34 (See also Confucianism/Confucian tradition; Vietnamese tradition)

  Women’s Corps, 125, 139, 203

  Women’s rights, 101–103, 109

  Women’s Solidarity Movement, 125, 126

  Wong, Anna May, 148–149

  World War I, 22

  World War II, 37–39, 149

  Xa Hoi-Society, 77

  Xixi (Chinese empress), 2, 148

  Yen Bay uprising, 32–33

  Yokoyama Masayuki, 35, 39

  Young, Stephen, 172

  JESSICA TAMPAS PHOTOGRAPHY

  Monique Brinson Demery took her first trip to Vietnam in 1997 as part of a study-abroad program with Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She received a United States Department of Education grant to attend the Vietnamese Advanced Summer Institute in Hanoi, and in 2003, she received a master’s degree in East Asia regional studies from Harvard University. Demery’s initial interviews with Madame Nhu in 2005 were the first the former South Vietnamese First Lady had given to any Westerner in nearly twenty years. Demery lives in Chicago.

  PublicAffairs is a publishing house founded in 1997. It is a tribute to the standards, values, and flair of three persons who have served as mentors to countless reporters, writers, editors, and book people of all kinds, including me.

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