American Experience

Who's Who: South Vietnam		return to index
	Bao Dai			10 of 41

Vietnam's last emperor ascended to the throne in 1932 and cooperated with the Japanese occupying Vietnam during World War II. After the war, he briefly joined ranks with Vietnamese communist leader Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh, only to flee into exile in Hong Kong and France from 1949-1955. He returned to Vietnam to rule under French control until he was ousted by South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem in a rigged election in 1954.