From Prime Minster to the first president of the (RVN), Ngo Dinh Diem served as their leader from 1954 to 1963. Diem was an anti-colonialist who worked with the United States in an attempt to secure South Vietnam. …show more content…
Within the South, support was needed from not only the South Vietnamese, but also the over 500,000 relocated North Vietnamese Catholics that fled North Vietnam due to their persecution and their support for President Diem. In the North, leaflets were distributed both by hand and through the air, outlining the American ideas of democracy and the advantages of a capitalist state. The propaganda of leaflets was a momentous effort to win over the hearts of the Vietnamese people; “American aircraft dropped 400 million leaflets in Vietnam in the period between April 1965 and November 1966 alone” (Friedman). In addition of pamphlets, propaganda bank notes were used by the United States. These bank notes were distributed for the control of the financial interest of the SouthVietnam and counterfeited notes were dropped over the North. The thought that this would financially bankrupt the North, and lead to a contempt of their trust. As it turned out this form of propaganda was also being used by the North; counterfeiting both South Vietnam currency and American currency. “Many of the currencies found their way into the black market and while they carried no worth with the various governments were used to gain value in the underground” (Friedman). Propaganda was so vital to the United States and was used by all the actors of the Vietnam War, it was also used to against them