In March 1963, the White House announced that Hilsman would become Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs, replacing Averell Harriman (who was promoted to an undersecretary position). Hilsman had risen quickly in the government bureaucracy, partly because Kennedy liked his willingness to challenge the military. A "New York Times" profile that year described Hilsman as "a restless, bouncy, aggressive but deeply reflective man". Hilsman assumed the new position in May 1963. The same month, the Buddhist crisis began in South Vietnam, which featured a series of repressive acts by the South Vietnamese government and a campaign of civil resistance led mainly by Buddhist monks. Doubts grew further about Diệm, and within the Kennedy administration Hilsman became the most outspoken proponent of a coup against Diệm.