Nguyen Cao Ky

Nguyen Cao Ky was a South Vietnamese military officer and politician who served as the chief of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force in the 1960s, before leading the nation as the prime minister of South Vietnam in a military junta from 1965 to 1967. He then served as vice president to General Nguyen Van Thieu in a nominally civilian administration until his retirement from politics in 1971. Born in northern Vietnam, Ky joined the Vietnamese National Army of the French-backed State of Vietnam and started as an infantry officer before the French sent him off for pilot training. After the French withdrew from Vietnam and the nation was partitioned, Ky moved up the ranks of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force to become its leader. In November 1963, Ky participated in the coup that deposed president Ngo Dinh Diem and resulted in Diem's assassination. In 1964, Ky became prominent in junta politics, and was part of a group of young, aggressive officers dubbed the "Young Turks". Over the next two years, there were numerous successful and failed coup attempts. In September 1964, he helped put down a coup attempt by Generals Lam Van Phat and Duong Van Duc against Nguyen Khanh, and the following February he thwarted another attempt by Phat and Pham Ngoc Thao. His favored tactic was to send fighter jets into the air and threaten large-scale air strikes to force his opponents to back down. After the latter attempt, he also forced the Khanh into exile and became the leading member of the junta in mid-1965 by becoming prime minister, while General Thieu was a figurehead chief of state.