President Kennedy and the Vietnam War Essay

The Kennedy administration foreign policies were less rigid and had an ideological approach. His policies displayed and promoted ‘Liberalism, Diplomacy and Military action’. His Foreign policies were popularly

Kennedy was going to pull back on the Vietnam war: President Kennedy was going to get our troops out of Vietnam. He already had issued an order, NSAM 1093, that called for 1,000 military advisers to be called back home. The writer happens to have direct knowledge of this pull-out of troops. A very close associate, in the position to know, said that Sam Adams of the CIA research team, wrote a letter detailing what a grave mistake a conflagration in Viet-Nam would be. For the USA. Kennedy met with him a second time and Sam Adams felt that JFK was, in fact, going to get us out of this war. Robert Kennedy ran for president in 1968, believing the same thing as did his brother. LBJ's first act as president was to rescind NSAM 1093. There was too much money committed to this war. The Industrial Military Complex was now in

There are a fascinating series of memos and audio recordings available to the public online through the auspices of the National Security Archive at George Washington University. At this time, Kennedy had decided upon a coup against Ngo Dinh Diem if he did not remove his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu who the administration was convinced would lose the war due to his oppressive policies. Kennedy recognized that the Congress might be angry at him for supporting Vietnamese generals in a coup against Diem. However, Kennedy remarked that it will "be madder if Vietnam goes down the drain ("Kennedy considered supporting," 2009)." The administration then considered proposals to evacuate American troops from South Vietnam as explicitly linked to the success of a military coup. The administration tapes reveal that the plans for the American withdrawal were created in fabric of the NSC deliberations about the coup. The coup rumors and threats were waved as a feature of diplomatic maneuvers to induce President Diem to oust his brother Nhu from the government (ibid.). The failure of the administrations policies in the wake of the Diem coup ensured the escalation of the U.S.

Even before John Fitzgerald Kennedy began his presidency in 1961, he viewed foreign policy as one of the most important aspects of our lives. In one speech he said, “Foreign policy today, irrespective of what we might wish, in its impact on our daily lives, overshadows everything else. Expenditures, taxation, domestic prosperity, the extent of social sciences — all hinge on the basic issue of war or peace” (JFK Library). As the first president born in the 20th century, the youngest president to be elected to office, and the youngest president to die in office, John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s time in office was brief, but full of difficult challenges in foreign affairs. I feel that he

As mentioned earlier, J. F. Kennedy was providing the Vietnamese government with advisors. He started with the initial 400 U.S. military counselors and the number was raised to 16,300 American military advisors after his assassination. A communist takeover was to be prevented and that is why Kennedy supported Diem and his brother's government.

The French were highly involved with Indochina (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) due to the abundant harvesting riches that were favorable with their own economy. Historically, Vietnam first established the communist party through the influence of China after their conversion into a Communist country in 1949. Ho Chi Min, a nationalist leader, had

The Vietnam war did not officially start until the 1950's. This is when the U.S. started sending in troops. Before then the French had been trying to conquer what was then called Indochina. They began their conquest in 1859, by 1888 they had turned the area that is now called Vietnam and Cambodia into the Colony of French Indochina. This was challenged many times by different uprisings but none worked as well as the Viet Minh common front( this was controlled by the Vietnamese communist party). During WWII the French were defeated by the Germans. This severely weakened their authority in Vietnam. In 1940 the Japanese invaded and

The United States foreign policy has changed a lot throughout history. The Vietnam War changed foreign policy regarding military force in a huge way. The Government must be more careful when to use military force. Some Government officials who served in Vietnam use it as a reminder (Document 8). American Citizen’s opinions must also be taken into consideration. The Government can not afford to try and keep secrets. America must be careful to avoid Vietnam syndrome and prevent war from happening as shown in Document 9 with the Gulf

The politics of the ultratight resonated deeply with Richard Nixon. Nixon had cut his political teeth as a young Red-hunting member of the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s. His home district in Orange Country, California, was widely known as a Birch Society stronghold. The Los Angeles-area Birch Society claimed the membership of several political and economic elites, including members of the Chandler family, which owned and published the Los Angeles Times. According to the writer David Halberstam (1979, 118) the Times, which was once described as “the most rabid Labor-bating, Red-hating paper in the United States,” virtually created Richard Nixon.

John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29, 1917, the second of nine children. He was a US statesman and our 35th president. He came from a family with a history of good politics. As an infant he lived in a comfortable but modest frame house in that suburb of Boston. As the family got larger and the father's income and fortune increased, the Kennedys moved to larger, more impressive homes. Their first home was in Brookline, followed by the suburbs of New York City. John F. Kennedy had a happy childhood that was full of family games and sports. He attended many different private elementary schools, which were all non parochial. He later spent a year at Canterbury School in New Milford,

John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States (1961-1963). He was born

Thomas G. Paterson grew up during the Cold War, even though he did not go into the army, he did research about the war while it was happening. The book Kennedy’s Quest for Victor American Foreign Policy 1961-1963 covers all of the aspect of Kennedy's foreign policy. Kennedy had foreign policies with 6 countries, Asia, Africa, Canada, Europe, Latin America, and Vietnam. The policy cover subjects like the atomic policy, Cuban Missile Crisis, Peace Corps, and economic policy. This source will help understand what Kennedy was going through with other countries when it comes to certain policies that I listed above. I believe this a secondary source.This books has quotes from people that were going through the Cold War. On the back of the book states

---After WWII and until 1955, France fought hard to regain their former territories in the region, but with a poorly organized army and little determination among the troops, their efforts soon collapsed. The French were finally defeated at Dien Bien Phu on the 8th of May 1954 by the communist general Vo Nguyen Giap. The French troops withdrew, leaving a buffer zone separating the North and South and set up elections in order to form a government in the South. The communist regime set up its headquarters in Hanoi under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh. Many North Vietnamese left the country and fled south where the self-proclaimed president, Ngo Dinh Diem had formed the Republic of Vietnam.

The conflict in Vietnam for the United States started when President Dwight D. Eisenhower went along with the domino theory and sent in military advisors in South Vietnam to stop the communist movement from taking place in South Vietnam. The Vietnam conflict was between the communist’s and the United States. North Vietnam was led by Ho Chi Minh, and Ho Chi Minh led the Viet Cong, a guerilla group to help spread communism. The United States were supporters of the South Vietnam because they wanted them to maintain their government rather than falling to the domino theory of communism. After Eisenhower’s term ended John F. Kennedy became president and took control of the situation of Vietnam but on November 22, 1963, Kennedy was

The First Indochina War took place in the Asian region of Indochina, containing the nations of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.  French, the long time colonial ruler of Indochina was being fought by these nations.  The French started their colonial rule over Indochina in 1859, and had control by 1885.  During World War II, Vietnam resisted French rule, and as the World War came to an end, Japan defeated the French taking control of Vietnam.  Again during 1945, the Vietnamese fought against Japanese rule and were victorious only to be reoccupied by France soon after. But During the Indochina