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John F. Kennedy's Involvement In Vietnam

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4. John F. Kennedy was president through 1961 -1963 and was a firm believer in containing communism and made it clear that he would continue the same policy of former President Eisenhower in supporting the government in South Vietnam along with the ‘Domino Theory’ which suggested that if one country in a region were to fall under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino-like effect. While Kennedy had been warned that further involvement of warfare in Vietnam would only trap America in a “bottomless military and political swamp” he still decided to further fund and expand the Vietnamese army from “150,000 to 170,000” soldiers and agreed to send an “extra 1000 US military advisors to South Vietnam” n order to help train the new Army. …show more content…

After Kennedy’s assassination Lyndon Johnson inherited the White House and took the approach that dictatorships should not be appeased. Johnson was reluctant to become involved in Vietnam due to his political interpretation and policy direction are known as “Containment” and his belief that there was a threat of world domination by Communism which had become a very common Cold-War view among American politicians during this time period. But he continued on to help provide economic and military aid and even authorizes covert actions to prove to enemies that America will take a tough stance in Vietnam. As president, he felt he had to take all necessary measures to protect the U.S. from any attack a and to prevent any further

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