Aug. 25, 1964 - The American-backed government of Maj. Gen. Nguyen Khanh (right) collapsed today on the sixth day of a revolt by students and Buddhists against his military dictatorship.
Khanh agreed to abolish the military constitution which made him President nine days ago and to dissolve the Military Revolutionary Committee he headed.
Khanh, a Buddhist who seized power in a bloodless coup d’état Jan. 30, was left with no official position in the government, thought he still controls the army. He had been premier, then president.
Khanh’s was the third South Vietnamese government to collapse in 10 months despite massive American and military manpower for use in the war against the Communist Viet Cong guerrillas.
The 36-year-old strongman was known as an American favorite.
He was accompanied around the country on political trips by former Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, present Ambassador Maxwell Taylor, and by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara (left).
The first of the South Vietnamese governments to go was that of President Ngo Dinh Diem, who was overthrown and killed in a coup led by Maj. Gen. Duong Van Minh Nov. 1, 1963. The Minh government feel to Khanh’s coup last January.
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