President Kennedy instructed Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., the US Ambassador to South Vietnam, to tell the renegade generals that, while the United States did not wish to stimulate a coup, it would not thwart one, either. The generals proceeded with their plans and on November 1, 1963, troops loyal to them seized key installations in Saigon. Diem and Nhu surrendered the next day and were murdered shortly thereafter.

NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled Kennedy and the Diem Coup: The Torch Is Passed.