Tran Le Xuan (April 15, 1924 - April 24, 2011), popularly known as Madame Nhu but more properly Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu, was considered the First Lady of South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963. She was the wife of Ngo Dinh Nhu, brother and chief adviser to President Ngo Dinh Diem. As Diem was a lifelong bachelor, and because the Nhus lived in the Independence Palace, she was considered to be the First Lady. Ngô Ðình Nhu (October 7, 1910 - November 2, 1963) was the younger brother and chief political advisor of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Ðình Dim. Nhu was widely regarded as the architect of the Ngô family's nepotistic and autocratic rule over South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963. Although Nhu did not hold a formal executive position, he wielded immense unofficial power, exercising personal command of both the ARVN Special Forces (a paramilitary unit which served as the Ngô family's de facto private army) and the Cn Lao Party, which served as the regime's de facto secret police.