Nguyen Cao Ky was the Prime Minister of South Vietnam from 1963 to 1971. His correspondence, interviews, photos, and speeches show us a view of the Vietnam War from the inside.
On paper and in speeches, Ky comes off as an intellectual, articulate, and reserved man fighting against communism in his country.
But Ky had a reputation for reckless behavior like ignoring uniform codes and threatening to kill subversives. This reckless reputation concerned the American government that backed his cause.
Ky believed the war was a result of the Vietnamese drive for independence.
His words give us valuable information of the Vietnamese perspective and the preventative and offensive measures South Vietnam needed to take.
Discover what the resistance was like from inside Vietnam for yourself with the Nguyen Cao Ky papers at UW’s American Heritage Center.