Nguyễn Văn Lộc (; 24 August 1922 – 31 May 1992) was a South Vietnamese educator, lawyer, and politician who served as Prime Minister of South Vietnam between 31 October 1967 and 18 May 1968. His second wife, Nguyễn Thị Mai, would be the subject of a biography, ''Black Silk Pajamas'' in 2000.
Biography
Early life and education
He was born on 24 August 1922, in Long Chau village, Chau Thanh district - Vinh Long (now Vinh Long City, Vinh Long Province) to a wealthy family. From 1950 to 1955, he studied abroad in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
University of Montpellier
The University of Montpellier () is a public university, public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous opera ...
, France in 1954, and a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in
criminal law
Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...
from the
University of Paris
The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...
, France in 1964. In 1965, he went on to study more about
international law
International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...
in the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
In 1945, he participated in the Anti-French War of Resistance, commonly known as the
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...
, in which he served as the editor-in-chief of an underground newspaper called ''La Lutte''. After realizing the communist nature of the
Việt Minh
The Việt Minh (, ) is the common and abbreviated name of the League for Independence of Vietnam ( or , ; ), which was a communist-led national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Vi ...
, he left and returned to Saigon, publishing and printing newspapers.
Political career
Since 1955, he has been a lawyer of the Saigon High Court.
In 1964, Lộc was elected Chairman of the Civil-Military Council (Hội Đồng Dân Quân, the legislature during the transition from a military government to an elected government). In 1967, Nguyễn Cao Kỳ invited Lộc to join him in the
1967 South Vietnamese presidential election
Presidential elections were held in South Vietnam on 3 September 1967, following the promulgation of a new constitution on 1 April. The result was a victory for Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, who received 35% of the vote. Voter turnout was 83%. The elec ...
as his running mate, being the vice presidential candidate. After deciding to run jointly with
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu (; 5 April 1923 – 29 September 2001) was a South Vietnam, South Vietnamese military officer and politician who was the Leaders of South Vietnam, president of South Vietnam from 1967 to 1975. He was a general in the Repub ...
, being his running mate as the vice presidential candidate, Kỳ asked Lộc to withdraw. To compensate Lộc, Kỳ asked Thiệu to appoint Lộc as the prime minister of the government.
Prime Minister of South Vietnam (1967–1968)
On 31 October 1967, he was appointed by President Thiệu to be the first Prime Minister of the Second Republic of Vietnam. On 9 November 1967, Prime Minister Lộc presented his cabinet:
* Deputy Minister (Diplomacy):
Phạm Đăng Lâm
Phạm Đăng Lâm (; 12 June 1918 – 2 June 1975) was a South Vietnamese diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Vietnam from November 1963 to January 1964 and again from November 1964 to February 1965. He served as Depu ...
* Foreign Minister: Doctor
Trần Văn Đỗ
Trần Văn Đỗ (; 15 November 1903 – 20 December 1990) was a South Vietnamese intellectual and politician who served in both the governments of the State of Vietnam and South Vietnam as Minister of Foreign Affairs (South Vietnam), Ministe ...
* Defense Minister: Lieutenant General Nguyễn Văn Vy
* Interior Minister: Lieutenant General
Linh Quang Viên
Linh Quang Viên (November 11, 1918 – January 17, 2013) was a Vietnamese soldier who rose to the rank of Lieutenant General in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.
Vien was born in Cao Bang, northern Vietnam. He attended Albert Sarraut High Sch ...
* Minister of Rural Construction: Lieutenant General Nguyễn Đức Thắng
* Economic Minister: Trương Thái Tôn
* Finance Minister: Lưu Văn Tính
* Minister of Culture and Education: Professor Tăng Kim Đồng
* Minister of Labor: Professor Phó Bá Long
* Minister of Health: Doctor Trần Lữ Y
* Minister of Public Works: Bửu Đôn
* Minister of Justice: Huỳnh Đức Bửu
* Minister for Ethnic Development: Paul Nur
* Minister of Agriculture and Land: Tôn Thất Trình
* Minister of Social Affairs and Refugees: Dr. Nguyễn Phúc Quế
* Transport Minister: Lương Thái Siêu
Education Ministers: Trần Lưu Cung (Education; in charge of Universities and Specializations), Professor Lê Trọng Vinh (Education; in charge of First, Secondary and High School), Law. Professor Hồ Thới Sang (Education; in charge of School Youth). Professor Bùi Xuân Bào (Culture), Nguyễn Chánh Lý (Commerce), Võ Văn Nhung (Technology). Professor Nguyễn Văn Tường and Đoàn Bá Cang hold the positions of Ministers of the Prime Minister's Office.
During his tenure as prime minister, he made state visits to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, the US,
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, and
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
.
After the
1968 Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) launched a surprise attack on 30 January 1968 against the forces of ...
, he was criticized and forced to resign. Since then, he has retired from politics and turned to teaching: 1969, university, An Giang (Vietnam); teacher, Hoa Ha 1971, director, Cao Dai University, Tai Ninh (Vietnam).
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...
collapsed to the advancing forces of
North Vietnam
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...
and the
Viet Cong
The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, and ...
, Lộc like other high-ranking government and military officials of the Saigon government that stayed behind were sent to re-education camp operated by the new
Communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
Vietnamese government.Vietnam Ex-Premier tells how he escaped /ref> In an interview with the New York Times, Lộc describes in the re-education camps he and other inmates were forced to perform hard labor such as clearing the jungles, swamps, and minefields to build dams and farming. He mentions the conditions of the camps were so brutal that two or three people within the camps would die every week from
malnutrition
Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...
or illnesses
In 1980, after spending five brutal years in the re-education camp, the
Communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
government decided to let Lộc return to Saigon (now
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025.
The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
). Lộc explains,
''I nearly died in the labor camp, where I was kept with about 1,500 others on a near-starvation diet; they let me return to Saigon in 1980 only after they felt that I was dying.''
Lộc attempted to leave Vietnam 14 times before successfully making it to Singapore on 10 May 1983 as a
refugee
A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
with his wife and their eleven-month-old infant. He later settles in
Houston, Texas
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
with his wife, Nguyễn Thị Mai with whom he went on having three more children with. He died in