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Photo of Crowds filling the streets of Saigon to await the return of a referendum held in 1955. The majority of Saigon voters favored President Ngo Dinh Diem who declared the south an independent republic.

Crowds in Saigon wave banners as they await the results of a referendum in 1955 establishing Diem as president of an independent South Vietnam. It has been established that election fraud played a role in Diem’s majority win. (© Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images)

© Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images