After six months of captivity Diem was taken to Ha Noi, where Ho Chi Minh requested he join the communists. Upon his refusal Diem was surprisingly released (Tucker 81).
After the death of his older brother, Diem left Vietnam. He spent two years studying at Catholic Seminaries in New Jersey and New York, for a time he contemplated becoming a priest, but decided against it. He met often with prominent officials of the United States government, and convinced them that he was the only nationalist alternative to both the French and the Communists (Tucker 81). .
Diem had little to no tolerance for Eisenhower's support of the French, and when he failed to sway Eisenhower to his side he left for Belgium where he stayed at a Benedictine monastery. Although this was a relatively peaceful time in Diem's life, he often visited with members of the large Vietnamese exile population in Paris. From these contacts sprang many of his latter commanding officers and government officials (Tucker 81).
In 1954 Diem returned to Vietnam to attempt to get Emperor Bao Dai on his side. This task proved far easier than Diem though, for the emperor needed to gain the support of Diem's allies, including his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, who was the head of the Front for National Salvation. Dai was also under the impression that the United States backed Diem, which although untrue at the time, played a crucial role in Diem's rise to power. Bao Dai promoted Diem to the position of prime minister on the eighteenth of June, 1954. After achieving this position Diem returned to Sai Gon and established a new government, formed to " embrace all of Vietnam- (Tucker 82).
Although this position was a crucial foothold in Diem's rise to supreme authority, many of the aristocrats and influencial government officials opposed his policies. Many of the nationalist parties opposed him for his absence during the Indo-China Wars, they saw Diem as a sellout for leaving his country during times of war.
