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The decision to call off elections in South Vietnam following the Geneva Agreement can be linked primarily to the beliefs and strategies of Ngô Đình Diệm, the leader of South Vietnam at the time. Diệm, a staunch anti-communist, viewed the upcoming elections, which were intended to unify Vietnam, as politically unnecessary and unsafe for his regime. He believed that elections could jeopardize his power because they might favor the communist North and undermine his government, which lacked wide popular support.

Moreover, Diệm's administration was increasingly focused on entrenching its authority rather than pursuing the unification efforts laid out in the Geneva Agreement. By refusing to hold the elections, Diệm aimed to consolidate control and manage the political landscape in a way that suited his interests, aligning with U.S. anti-communist goals while simultaneously dismissing a democratic process that could lead to his downfall or a shift in power.

In contrast, while it is true that the U.S. had concerns about the elections and their implications, they did not explicitly oppose them entirely as a blanket stance. The North Vietnamese did question the legitimacy of the elections due to regional tensions, and many viewed them as risky, but these reasons did not primarily drive Diệm's decision