Nguyen Van Thieu

Thieu, Nguyen Van (1923– ), president of South Vietnam (1967–75). An army officer, he helped overthrow Ngo Dinh Diem (1963), becoming premier in 1965 and president in 1967. He was re-elected (1971), but after U.S. troops were withdrawn his dictatorial regime gradually collapsed, and he resigned in April 1975. He fled to Taiwan and later to Great Britain, after South Vietnam fell to the North.

See also: Vietnam.