Reply #18: And in 1971, as the only candidate, General Thieu was "reelected".

[TacticalPeek]

So that's how that works.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguyen_Van_Thieu

Thieu's regime was accused of being far more corrupt than his predecessor. Unlike Ky, Thieu created a political party and greatly centralized political power in the executive branch at the expense of the elected congress. Close allies were placed in key ministerial and military posts in order to prevent threats to the president's leadership from emerging.

In 1971, Thieu ran for re-election, but his reputation for corruption made his political opponents believe the race would be fixed, and declined to run. As the only candidate Thieu was thus easily re-elected.