Spellman was an outspoken supporter of the Vietnam War, to the extent that the conflict became known as "Spelly's War" and the Cardinal as the "Bob Hope of the clergy". He met Ngo Dinh Diem in 1950 and, favorably impressed by his strongly Catholic and anti-Communist views, promoted his career; however, he disassociated from Diem before the latter's assassination in 1963. Fearful of Communist gains in Vietnam, Spellman had urged American intervention since late 1954, but by the 1960s his views were strongly criticized by antiwar activists and even his fellow religious leaders.