Home > Vietnam War > Edward Lansdale Biography

Born February 6, 1908
Dayton, Ohio
Died February 23, 1987
McLean, Virginia

U.S. intelligence agent in Vietnam

"[Lansdale was] one of the greatest spies in history. [His] accomplishments were the stuff of legends."

Former CIA Director William Colby.

Edward Lansdale was a secret agent for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who played an important role in South Vietnam during its first years of existence. During the 1950s he organized secret missions to hurt North Vietnam and strengthen South Vietnam's government. His efforts were so effective that he became known to some people as the "Father of South Vietnam." But as time passed, Lansdale's experiences in Vietnam turned sour. In 1963 he saw President Ngo Dinh Diem's (see entry) government fall in a military coup, and in later years his advice on conducting the war was ignored by American political...