One of the specific and unspoken aims of this proposed policy was to remove Generals Minh , Trần Văn Đôn , Lê Văn Kim and Mai Hữu Xuân from the military . This quartet , along with Tôn Thất Đính , had been the leading members of a junta that overthrew President Ngô Đình Diệm in November 1963 . The generals who deposed Diệm did not trust Khánh because of his habit of changing sides , and Khánh was angered by their snubs . Khánh put Don , Kim , Xuan and Dinh under arrest in Da Lat after his January coup , claiming they was about to make a deal with the communists , a falsehood to cover up his motive of revenge . These four thus became known as the " Da Lat Generals " . Khánh later released them and placed them into meaningless desk jobs with no work to do , although they was still being paid . Khánh did this as he thought the Young Turks had become too powerful and he hoped to use the Da Lat Generals as a counterweight . All this time , Minh had been allowed to continue as a figurehead chief of state due to his popularity , but Khánh was intent on sidelining him too . The Young Turks was fully aware of Khánh 's motives for rehabilitating the Da Lat Generals , and wanted to marginalize them . In public , Khánh and the Young Turks claimed the Da Lat Generals and Minh , who had returned from his overseas tour , had been making plots with the Buddhist activists to regain power .