page_title: Lâm Văn Phát
section_title: Early military career
hierarchical_section_title: Lâm Văn Phát / Early military career
caption_attribution_description: Cropped image showing South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem ARC Identifier: 542189 Item from Record Group 342: Records of U.S. Air Force Commands, Activities, and Organizations, 1900 - 2000 Part of Series: Black and White Photographs of U.S. Air Force and Predecessors' Activities, Facilities, and Personnel, Domestic and Foreign, 1930 - 1975
context_page_description: Major General Lâm Văn Phát served as an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He is best known for leading two coup attempts against General Nguyễn Khánh in September 1964 and February 1965. Although both failed to result in his taking power, the latter caused enough instability that it forced Khánh to resign and go into exile.
  A member of the Roman Catholic minority, Phát joined the French-backed Vietnamese National Army which became the ARVN after the Republic of Vietnam was established. After having been sent to the U.S. for further training in 1958, Phát returned home to head the Civil Guard, a paramilitary force then mostly used to protect the ruling family of President Ngô Đình Diệm, rather than to counteract the communist Việt Cộng insurgency. Later commanding the 2nd Division, he was known for his loyalty to Diệm, who favored fellow Catholics. In 1963, Diệm knew some of the generals were about to launch a coup against him.
context_section_description: The President of South Vietnam, Ngô Đình Diệm, heavily favored Catholics, and, as a result, Phát rose quickly up the ranks. Having started his career in the French-backed Vietnamese National Army of the State of Vietnam, Phát became a member of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam after the State of Vietnam became the Republic of Vietnam. In 1958, holding the rank of colonel, Phát was sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for officer training. Described as being tall for relatively short Vietnamese norms, Phát "spoke halting English". After returning to Vietnam, he served as the head of the Civil Guard, a paramilitary force that was mostly used at the time to protect the ruling family of President Ngô Đình Diệm rather than to counteract the communist Viet Cong insurgency.
  Phát has been described as a "political Catholic", a term for those who practiced or converted to the religion to curry favor with Diệm, who made most military and political appointments and promotions on the basis of religion. Phát's habit of customarily being seen in public with a swagger stick and his reputation for autocratic leadership alienated most of his subordinate officers. He grew his pinky fingernail to great length, a practice observed by mandarins during Vietnam's imperial era to denote their status. Some observers claimed that the mandarin style of his fingernail spread to his general behavior, decrying him as "haughty" and "hawklike". U.S. military advisors regarded Phát as "mediocre". As a colonel, he served as the commander of 2nd Division, located in central Vietnam from 8 June 1961 until 18 June 1963, when he was replaced by Colonel Trương Văn Chương.
caption: Ngô Đình Diệm, the President of South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963, gave preferential treatment to Roman Catholics. Phát was a Diệm loyalist.
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