President Eisenhower inherited from former President Truman an annual military assistance program to Indochina of some 200 million dollars and they were in dire need of a plan as to what strategic measures to take to insure some stability, or safety against the communists in Indochina (Kissinger 628). Eisenhower was left with some critical decisions between the geopolitical rationale as well as the American capabilities; he was also left with decisions regarding military strategy and morale (Kissinger 628). America was now said to have inherited the responsibility of securing Indochina. Eisenhower began pushing for reform in Indochina." In May 1953, Eisenhower urged the American ambassador to France to appoint new leaders with authority to
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Kennedy viewed the war differently than Eisenhower, "To the Kennedy team, the Vietcong attacks on South Vietnam did not represent a traditional war so much as a quasi-civil conflict characterized by the relatively new phenomenon of guerrilla warfare" (Kissinger 644). This led to the Kennedy administration supporting the idea that in order for South Vietnam to be victorious they needed to become a strong nation socially, politically, economically, and militarily. “In 1961, Kennedy agreed that America should finance an increase in the size of the South Vietnamese Army from 150,000 to 170,000. He also agreed that an extra 1000 US military advisors should be sent to South Vietnam to help train the South Vietnamese Army” (John F Kennedy and Vietnam). Due to the fact the United States was involved in the Cold War during this time period, it was unethical to even consider general warfare in the terms of the Secretary of Defense. By 1962 Kennedy became aware that a significant amount of the citizens in South Vietnam now supported North Vietnam, in response to this Kennedy sent more U.S. military advisers into the country, with the number of U.S. advisers in the country now totaling 12,000. Following the rebellion of the Buddhist monks under the …show more content…
The French fall at Dien Bien Phu ended the First Indochina War. However, this was not all the foreign force that Vietnam would have to battle. The United States stepped up to keep Vietnam from becoming a communist country. The United States was against the spread of communism which Truman laid out in his policy of containment. The policy of containment stated that in order to stop the spread of communism, it was necessary to come to the aid of smaller weaker countries, and that the threat of communism spreading would not end until the Soviet Union no longer existed. China’s fall to communism was a wakeup call for the United States that communism was spreading and spreading to major countries. China’s fall to communism created the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). Also after the French fell to Dien Bien Phu the Geneva conference was agreed to and held, this conference was significant in that the United States and Vietnam were able to come to an agreement to split Vietnam into the north and south until elections were held. The South was protected by the U.S. whereas the North was under communist rule. The domino theory was very popular among Eisenhower, Truman, and Kennedy. The domino theory stated that if one Indochina country was to fall to communism not
Kennedy viewed the war differently than Eisenhower, "To the Kennedy team, the Vietcong attacks on South Vietnam did not represent a traditional war so much as a quasi-civil conflict characterized by the relatively new phenomenon of guerrilla warfare" (Kissinger 644). This led to the Kennedy administration supporting the idea that in order for South Vietnam to be victorious they needed to become a strong nation socially, politically, economically, and militarily. “In 1961, Kennedy agreed that America should finance an increase in the size of the South Vietnamese Army from 150,000 to 170,000. He also agreed that an extra 1000 US military advisors should be sent to South Vietnam to help train the South Vietnamese Army” (John F Kennedy and Vietnam). Due to the fact the United States was involved in the Cold War during this time period, it was unethical to even consider general warfare in the terms of the Secretary of Defense. By 1962 Kennedy became aware that a significant amount of the citizens in South Vietnam now supported North Vietnam, in response to this Kennedy sent more U.S. military advisers into the country, with the number of U.S. advisers in the country now totaling 12,000. Following the rebellion of the Buddhist monks under the …show more content…
The French fall at Dien Bien Phu ended the First Indochina War. However, this was not all the foreign force that Vietnam would have to battle. The United States stepped up to keep Vietnam from becoming a communist country. The United States was against the spread of communism which Truman laid out in his policy of containment. The policy of containment stated that in order to stop the spread of communism, it was necessary to come to the aid of smaller weaker countries, and that the threat of communism spreading would not end until the Soviet Union no longer existed. China’s fall to communism was a wakeup call for the United States that communism was spreading and spreading to major countries. China’s fall to communism created the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). Also after the French fell to Dien Bien Phu the Geneva conference was agreed to and held, this conference was significant in that the United States and Vietnam were able to come to an agreement to split Vietnam into the north and south until elections were held. The South was protected by the U.S. whereas the North was under communist rule. The domino theory was very popular among Eisenhower, Truman, and Kennedy. The domino theory stated that if one Indochina country was to fall to communism not