“Diem was the kind of Asian we can live with,” said a member of the Supreme Court Justice (Conflict). The Diem family was a powerful family because Ngo Dinh Diem was the prime minister of South Vietnam in 1954. Diem grew up in the same region as the person he was going against. Diem was raised as a strong Catholic. He led Vietnam with a strong sense of anti-communism (Vietnam War). Diem was a powerful ruler who rose to power in South Vietnam, only to fall hard from his position after his corruption. The corruption ended up getting him killed by his own country's generals. Diem quickly rose to power largely through America's favor. America had many reasons to favor him. Diem grew up in an upper-class family and received a decent education. As an intelligent boy, he studied law at a Vietnamese university, after having rejected a scholarship in France (Conflict). Diem was the best choice among the remaining potential leaders who had not died or joined the enemy and communism (Vietnam War). The main reason America favored Diem was because he was strongly anti-communist. Diem was also Catholic, along with many Americans (Conflict). In 1933 Diem was dismissed from office because the French did not like him. He wanted Vietnam's independence and France had lost patience with him. Until 1950 Diem did nothing eventful. He focused on religion and the things he liked to do. Then, in 1950, he fled Vietnam due to the Viet Minh chasing him. He showed up a year later in America. There he did what is called "networking". He met important people, increasing his popularity in the States. At the Geneva conference the United States had mentioned Diem as a potential leader. “The only guy we got out there” (Conflict). The Frenchman did not agree, but later decided that it was the lesser of two evils (Ngo Dinh Diem). They held a vote in the country to elect a prime minister. It was between Diem and Bao Dai, the former emperor. The elections were most likely rigged, as he won with 98% of the votes. This was only the beginning of his corruption (Conflict, Ngo Dinh Diem). Diem has always been a person uncomfortable with the changes that were asked of him. He ended up making land changes in South Vietnam even though he didn't want to.