(Tuesday, October 31, 1967, just after 9:00 a.m. ICT); during the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Van Thieu, South Vietnam’s chief of state during two years of military rule, took the oath of office today in Saigon as the first President of South Vietnam’s Second Republic (click here to watch a video report on today’s events).

Later in the day, U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who had attended Thieu’s swearing-in ceremony, addressed members of the U.S. Embassy staff, saying “we mean to stick it out until aggression is turned back, until a just and honorable peace can be achieved, until the job is done.”

Video: '1983-Vietnam - A Television History - P.5 America Takes Charge (1965-1967)' (Oct. 31,
1967, at 51:39)