 On September 26 , 1964 , Nguyễn Khánh and the senior officers in his military junta created a semblance of civilian rule by forming the High National Council ( HNC ) , an appointed advisory body akin to a legislature . This came after lobbying by American officials — led by Ambassador Maxwell Taylor — in Vietnam , as they placed great value in the appearance of civilian legitimacy , which they saw as vital to building a popular base for any government . Khánh put his rival General Dương Văn Minh — who he had deposed in a January 1964 coup — in charge of picking the 17 members of the HNC , and Minh filled it with figures sympathetic to him . The HNC then made a resolution to recommend a political model with a powerful head of state , which would likely be Minh , given their sympathy towards him . Khánh did not want his rival taking power , so he and the Americans convinced the HNC to <unk> the powers of the position to make it <unk> to Minh , who was then sent on an overseas diplomatic goodwill tour to remove him from the political scene . However , Minh was back in South Vietnam after a few months and the power balance in the junta was still fragile . 
