Nguyen Van Thieu 2001 Deaths

Nguyen Van Thieu

former president of South Vietnam (1967–75) who led the country during most of the war against North Vietnam. He began his military career with the Vietminh, but later joined the South Vietnamese National Army. He led the coup that ousted President Diem in 1963 and was elected president in 1967 and again in 1971's controversial election. Van Thieu resigned and fled the country in 1975, when the North Vietnamese troops marched into Saigon.