Leadership Styles of Ho Chi Minh and Ngo Dinh Diem Essay

Leadership Styles of Ho Chi Minh and Ngo Dinh Diem - Essay Example Ho Chi Minh stood to be more powerful in a symbolic context, a standing symbol of the opposition to American efforts, a foe that was elusive and almost impossible to reach by the modern warfare machinery at the disposal of America, a foe that evolved into a mythical personification of the Communist resistance (Duiker, 1996, p. 360). In fact, Ho Chi Minh stood to be the real driving force, sans whom, it would have been impossible to think of a united Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was a truly charismatic leader who appealed to the expectations and cultural affiliations of a nation that had remained subservient for a long time (Duiker, 1994, p. 212). There is no denying the fact that Ho Chi Minh’s strategy to project oneself as a humble and motivated, old man, with a sense of vision and a knack for down to earth wisdom commanded a great emotional appeal and sway amongst the Vietnamese masses (Duiker, 1994). He was decisively always in touch with the popular aspirations and sentiments. In contrast, Diem happened to be a modern Nationalist, an authoritarian leader who intended to pursue his own agenda (Jacobs, 2005, p. 11). Yet, Diem was always perceptible of popular aspirations and well understood that his leanings towards an American agenda will project him as a puppet nationalist, subservient to the will of the Americans. So, to achieve his purpose, he devised the strategy of rousing the South Vietnamese peasantry for support, while steadily reducing the nation’s dependence on America (Jacobs, 2005). Though being a competent leader, eventually he ended up being a scapegoat of the American disappointment. Though Diem pursued an authoritarian approach towards leadership, this approach on his part was necessary in the sense that a Western style approach towards leadership would not have gone well in a society that was given to a