Nguyễn Bá Cẩn (; 9 September 1930 – 20 May 2009) was a South Vietnamese politician who served as the penultimate Prime Minister of South Vietnam from 4 April 1975 until 28 April 1975, serving under Presidents

Nguyễn Văn Thiệu Nguyễn Văn Thiệu (; 5 April 1923 – 29 September 2001) was a South Vietnam, South Vietnamese military officer and politician who was the Leaders of South Vietnam, president of South Vietnam from 1967 to 1975. He was a general in the Repub ...

(4 April to 21 April) and

Trần Văn Hương Trần Văn Hương (; 1 December 1902 – 27 January 1982) was a South Vietnamese politician who was the penultimate president of South Vietnam for a week in April 1975 before its surrender to the communist forces of North Vietnam. Before asc ...

(21 April to 28 April).Nguyễn Ngọc Huy ''Political parties in Vietnam'' 1973 p.15 "Party backed by Mr. Trấn Quôc Bửu, President of the Vietnamese Confederation of Labor, and headed by Deputy Nguyễn Bá Cẩn. " Before becoming prime minister, he was a member of the lower house (House of Representatives) of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

representing Định Tường province and served as the second Speaker of the lower house.

Biography

Early life and political career

He was born on 9 September 1930 in

Cần Thơ Cần Thơ () is the List of cities in Vietnam, fourth-largest city in Vietnam, and the largest city along the Mekong Delta region in Vietnam. It is noted for its floating markets, rice paper-making village, and picturesque rural canals. It has ...

Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; ; ; ; ) is a historical exonym and endonym, exonym for part of Vietnam, depending on the contexts, usually for Southern Vietnam. Sometimes it referred to the whole of Vietnam, but it was commonly used to refer t ...

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

into a family of wealthy farmers. In December 1950, he married Elizabeth Nguyễn Thị Tu, a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

with whom he had one son and two daughters with. In 1951, he enlisted in the

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

to study in the First Course of the

Thủ Đức Military Academy Thủ Đức Military Academy was an officer training school of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). It was located in the Thủ Đức District of the capital Saigon (now the eponymous subcity in Ho Chi Minh City). History Inf ...

. After graduating in 1953, he continued his education by registering for and passing the entrance exam to the Dalat Ecole d'Administration in 1954. From 1954 to 1957, he attended the Dalat Ecole d'Administration in which he graduated as valedictorian with a baccalaureate in administration.Theo Hạnh Dương, "Vài nét về cuộc đời của cựu thủ tướng Nguyễn Bá Cẩn". He started his political career with the position of Chief of

Cái Bè Cái Bè is a township () and capital of Cái Bè District, Tiền Giang Province, Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about ...

District, Định Tường (1958); Deputy Governor Định Tường (1959); Deputy Governor Phước Tuy (1962); then Deputy Governor of Long An Province (1964). In 1967 during the Second Republic, he was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population ch ...

to the Lower House of the

, representing Định Tường province. Soon afterward, he was appointed as the Second Vice Chairman of the House of Representatives. At the end of 1967, he cooperated with Congressman Đặng Văn Sung of the Alliance of Farmers and Engineers in the Senate to establish the Bicameral Social Democratic Union. In 1969, this bloc joined forces with Mr. Trần Quốc Bửu, Chairman of the Vietnam General Confederation of Workers, to establish the Vietnam Workers' Party, with Mr. Trần Quốc Bửu as Chairman, and he became General Secretary.Hồi ký ''Đất nước tôi'' của Nguyễn Bá Cẩn
/ref> He was reelected for a second term in the 1971 South Vietnamese parliamentary election. During his second term (1971–1975), he was elected as the second Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Prime Minister of South Vietnam (April 1975)

In March 1975, after the

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

had taken control of most of the Central region and the

highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

, under pressure from the United States, there was a need for a sweeping reform of the composition of the government to stabilize the country, internal affairs in the South and had enough strength to engage in dialogue with the Communists, President

invited him to take the position of Prime Minister, replacing the incumbent Prime Minister

Trần Thiện Khiêm Trần Thiện Khiêm (; 15 December 1925 – 24 June 2021) was a South Vietnamese soldier and politician, who served as a General in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) during the Vietnam War. He was born in Saigon, French Cochinchina, ...

who had just resigned. On 14 April 1975, he presented the Cabinet list with the title "Government of National Unity" to President Thiệu. Mr. Cẩn heads a Cabinet that has many experts and politicians considered "strong" many times more than the previous

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

cabinet. * Deputy Prime Minister: Engineer Dương Kích Nhưỡng (in charge of Relief and Settlement) * Deputy Prime Minister: Dr.

Nguyễn Văn Hảo Nguyễn (阮) (sometimes abbreviated as Ng̃) is the most common surname of the Vietnamese people. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as ''Nguyen''. By some estimates 30 to 39 percent of Vietnamese peopl ...

(in charge of Agriculture and Industry) * Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of National Defense: Gen.

Trần Văn Đôn Trần Văn Đôn (; August 17, 1917 – 1998) was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and one of the principal figures in the 1963 South Vietnamese coup d'état which overthrew President Ngô Đình Diệm. Personal life Đôn w ...

(in charge of inspections) * Foreign Minister: Lawyer

Vương Văn Bắc Vương Văn Bắc (20 September 1927 – 20 June 2011) was a South Vietnamese lawyer and politician who served as the last Minister of Foreign Affairs (South Vietnam), Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Vietnam under the premiership of Prime ...

* Interior Minister: Bửu Viên * Finance Minister: Lê Quang Trường * Chief of Planning: Dr. Nguyễn Tiến Hưng * Attorney General: Lawyer Ngô Khắc Tịnh * Minister of Social Affairs: Professor Trần Văn Mãi * Minister of Health: MP Tôn Thất Niệm * Minister of Public Works and Traffic: Engineer Nguyễn Xuân Đức * Minister of Culture: Professor Nguyễn Duy Xuân * Minister of Information: Brigadier General Phan Hòa Hiệp * Minister of the Prime Minister's Office: Nguyễn Long Châu * Secretary of State: Lawyer Lê Trọng Quát, Professor Phạm Thái, Nguyễn Xuân Phong And many other Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Advisors such as Judge Huỳnh Đức Bửu, Professor Nguyễn Thanh Liêm, Engineer Đoàn Minh Quan, Engineer Nguyền Hữu Tân, Nguyễn Quang Diệp. However, just a week later, when the

Battle of Xuân Lộc The Battle of Xuân Lộc () was the last major battle of the Vietnam War that took place at Xuân Lộc, Biên Hòa Province (today Đồng Nai Province). Over a period of 12 days between 9 and 21 April 1975, the outnumbered South Vietnamese ...

line was broken, on 21 April, President Thiệu announced his resignation, ceding power to Vice President

. The government was on the verge of collapsing and on 25 April, Prime Minister Cẩn and the majority of his cabinet submitted their resignations to the new president but were asked to stand for an additional two to three days until a new prime minister was available. In the last hours of his ministry, he reported in an interview with journalist Hạnh Dương as follows: :''"The Vietnam issue at that time was a joint game between the United States and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. They got involved and arranged everything. They forced us to surrender, to hand over the status quo. On 21 April 1975, President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu had to resign. According to the Constitution, he handed over the presidency to Vice President Trần Văn Hương. On 25 April 1975, I submitted my resignation as Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam, but President Trần Văn Hương asked me to stay and continue handling affairs until 28 April 1975 to wait for the swearing in of the new government."'' :... :''"On the morning of 27 April 1975, I attended an urgent and closed meeting with President Trần Văn Hương at the Vice President's residence to discuss the fact that the United States and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

were forcing the Saigon government to hand over South Vietnam to the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

. The Communists of North Vietnam demanded that the presidency should be handed over to General

Dương Văn Minh Dương Văn Minh (; 16 February 19166 August 2001), popularly known as Big Minh, was a South Vietnamese politician and a senior general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and a politician during the presidency of Ngô Đình Diệm. ...

, I told President Hương that if the President automatically hands over the presidency to General Minh, then thousands of generations of history will resent the President! If the National Assembly agrees to hand it over, the President will hand it over to General Minh and thus the President will avoid unconstitutional actions." :... :''"The session ended at 12 noon. I had just returned to the Prime Minister's Palace at 12:15 when Ambassador

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

of the United States called to tell me, "The night of 26 April 1975, North Vietnamese Communists firing rockets at the center of Saigon was only a warning. Now the North Vietnamese Communists have already deployed 20 divisions around Saigon and the South Vietnamese are required to hand over the Presidency to Mr. Dương Văn Minh, anyone else cannot be accepted, and must hand over before 12 in the late hours of 27 April 1975, otherwise the North Vietnamese would bombard Saigon on the ground. So please, Prime Minister, please help Senate President

Trần Văn Lắm Trần Văn Lắm, also known as Charles Trần Văn Lắm (30 July 1913 – 6 February 2001), was a South Vietnamese diplomat and politician, who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Vietnam under Prime Minister Trần Th ...

to convene an emergency bicameral session of the National Assembly."'' :... :''"I instructed Radio Saigon and the television programs to keep playing heroic music and for a few minutes to read the order to summon the Bicameral National Assembly urgently. Thanks to that, on the night of 27 April 1975, there were enough valid quorums. That is, a total of 60 MPS of the Senate and 159 MPs of the House met to decide whether to agree or not to hand over power to General Dương Văn Minh as requested by the North Vietnamese Communists, if not, Saigon will be attacked on an equal footing. The bicameral National Assembly voted overwhelmingly to approve the motion and on the afternoon of 28 April 1975, President Hương handed over the position of President to former General Minh." After President Hương resigned and handed over the presidency to General Dương Văn Minh, former Foreign Minister and Senator

Vũ Văn Mẫu Vũ Văn Mẫu (; 25 July 1914 – 20 August 1998) was a South Vietnamese diplomat and politician, who was the last Prime Minister of South Vietnam, serving under President Dương Văn Minh's leadership in 1975. He held the position for only ...

was invited to hold the position of prime minister. Former Prime Minister Nguyễn Bá Cẩn officially resigned from office. However, the situation of the Republic of Vietnam was still irreversible. Only 2 days later, General Dương Văn Minh was forced to declare his surrender to the

Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (PRG, ), was formed on 8 June 1969, by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) as an armed underground government opposing the government of the Republic of ...

. The regime of the Republic of Vietnam completely collapsed.''''

Life in exile

After submitting his resignation, he arranged for his wife and youngest daughter board the last

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

flight to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on 26 April. Two days later, he was brought over the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

by the US Embassy on a

C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

plane of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. On this flight, included two veteran politicians Hoàng Đức Nhã and

Phan Quang Đán Phan Quang Đán (; 6 November 1918 – 26 March 2004) was a Vietnamese political opposition figure who was one of only two non-government politicians who won a seat in the 1959 South Vietnamese election for the National Assembly. Subsequently, ...

. From the Philippines, US authorities took him to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. After he arrived in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

, his wife and youngest daughter were also approved by the US government to immigrate to the United States from Paris to reunite. After settling in

northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

, he initially opened a small gas station in the city of Mountain View. However, after only three months, the business had to stop because of capital loss. Then, he enrolled to study computing at the age of 46. In 1979, he graduated as a programmer and joined Standard Oil, then Chevron Texaco Corp., working in the computer department until retiring in 1998. In retirement, he devoted time to social activities and human rights. In September 2003, he published his memoirs ''My Country.'' In May 2009, he submitted the dossier "Vietnam's continental shelf" to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, affirming Vietnam's sovereignty over the

East Sea East Sea or Eastern Sea may refer to: * East China Sea, a marginal sea east of China, where it is called ''Dōnghǎi'' (/) in Chinese, meaning "East Sea" ** East Sea (Chinese literature), one of the Four Seas, a literary name for the boundaries of ...

and the Hoàng Sa and

Trường Sa The Spratly Islands (; zh, s=南沙群岛, t=南沙群島, p=Nánshā Qúndǎo; ; ) are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed of islands, islets, cays, and more than 100 reefs, sometimes grouped in submerged old atolls ...

archipelagoes. He died at 4:30 am on 20 May 2009 at Regional Medical Center in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyễn, Bá Cẩn 1930 births 2009 deaths Members of the National Assembly (South Vietnam) Prime ministers of South Vietnam Vietnamese anti-communists Vietnamese Roman Catholics Vietnamese exiles Vietnamese emigrants to the United States Politicians from San Jose, California People from Cần Thơ