Presidents during the Vietnam War
Brianna C.
Eisenhower: 1953-1961
When elected, Eisenhower continued the policy of supplying aid to the French war effort. At this time, America was still trying to stop the spread of communism around the world. Eisenhower explained the domino theory. This explained how once one communist country falls, the rest fall quickly after. Even though they had U.S aid, the French still surrendered to Vietnam. Eisenhower,however, did not like the Geneva Accord that was signed by France and Vietnam in 1954. This created the 17th parallel that divided Vietnam into North and South sections. Eisenhower thought this agreement gave the communist to much power. The Eisenhower administration promised Ngo Dinh Diem, South Vietnams president, military aid and training if he made a stable reformed government in South Vietnam. The Vietcongs, or NFL, attacked the Diem government and killed Vietnamese government officials. Ho Chi Minh, who supported this group, created the Ho Chi Minh trails, which set up surprise attacks on South Vietnam and made it grow to be more unstable. Eisenhower took little action to this and decided to "sink or swim with Ngo Dinh Diem"
Kennedy: 1961-1963
Kennedy decided that he was going to "swim" with Diem. He created the "December 1961 White Papers" which investigated the conditions of South Vietnam, it was also a call for help for more aid to Vietnam. This increased financial aid to Diem's regime and he sent thousands of military advisers and machinery to help train South Vietnamese troops. He did this so the U.S could slowly be pulled out of the war. Kennedy was later assassinated.
Johnson: 1963-1969
Johnson ignored Kennedy's request to pull the U.S out of the war, and decided to escalate the nations role in Vietnam. Johnson, however, did agree that the spread of communism would be disastrous. When the USS Maddox was targeted at the Gulf of Tonkin, the U.S returned fire and destroyed the patrol boat. These attacks prompted Johnson to launch bombing strikes on North Vietnam. Congress agreed with him, and this created the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. Johnson had secret raids against North Vietnam, and had prepared for this resolution months before this all happened. In February 1965, Johnson used his new powers and created "Operation rolling thunder", which was the first sustained bombing of North Vietnam. U.S troops began to battle the Vietcong. This made the Vietnam war Americanized. In 1968, North Vietnam attacked major cities in South Vietnam this was the Tet offensive. The U.S and South Vietnam eventually pushed out North Vietnam, but it was still a big political loss for them. Johnson left office when time was up in disgrace.
Richard Nixon- 1969-1974
Nixon created Vietnamization, this helped train South Vietnam troops to build up their army so they can take the United State troops out of the war. In 1973, a peace treaty was signed to take the U.S out of the war. Eventually North Vietnam took over South Vietnam and the war had ended.