In 1948, President Harry Truman presented the world with the Truman doctrine. The Truman doctrine was an American policy that stated that America would help any country in fighting the threat of communism. He thought that communism was something that wasn’t chosen by the people, but something forced upon them. At this time, most of Eastern Europe had become communist under the influence of Russia. America believed that communism was a threat to democracy. Therefore the Truman doctrine was set up to contain communism and not let it spread to other countries.
The year 1954 was a major turning point, which brought the Americans very close to involvement of the conflict. The battle of Dien Bien Phu, in which the French were defeated by the Vietminh, caused the French to give up Indo-China. The Geneva peace agreement led to the temporary partition of Vietnam due to elections that were set to be held in1956 in which the Vietnamese people could vote for their new leader.
The Vietminh leader, Ho Chi Minh was installed as the leader of North Vietnam and Bao Dai as the leader of South Vietnam. Bao Dai was extremely unpopular in South Vietnam and many in the Eisenhower administration believed that if any national election was to be held Ho would win and spread his influence to the south, creating a Communist state and backing up the “Domino theory”.
The historical reputation of Dwight D. Eisenhower, war hero and thirty-fourth president of the United States sank to a low point after he left the White House in January 1961. Although his personal popularity with the American public had not weakened during his eight years in office, the academic and journalistic communities that had criticized his occupancy, his policies, and his personal leadership continued to believe he had led ineffectively over the Vietnamese situation. He did not wage war on North Vietnam, whom had turned Communist during his presidency, nor did he send ground troops to Vietnam, except for military advisors. He inherited a presidency which I think he controlled very wisely. The main reason for American involvement in Vietnam was due to the belief and paranoia that if Communism was left to its own devices it would spread over the world. His main involvement in Vietnam was sending financial help to the French colonialists, who were later defeated, and propping up an unpopular Catholic Diem by sending him Billions of dollars worth of aid. America also had the Korean War fresh in its mind, and many Americans could see the same situation unfolding again.
Most of Eisenhower's critics seem to have supported the social programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt's “New Deal” and Harry S Truman's “Fair Deal”, and during the 1960s they quickly shifted their admiration and allegiance to the liberal elements of John F. Kennedy's “New Frontier”. They saw Eisenhower's conservative agenda as a program to benefit the privileged and the wealthy, a Republican reaction to the progress made under Democratic reformers. They ridiculed Eisenhower's efforts to achieve economic responsibility and decentralized government, claiming that these efforts were little more than a smokescreen covering the president's insensitivity to the needs of the less fortunate elements of American society. Eisenhower's foreign policy which had resulted in seven-and-a-half years of peace came in for somewhat less criticism. Nevertheless, many criticized Vice-president Nixon’s emphasis on nuclear weapons and the doctrine of massive retaliation. Most of the criticisms, however, were directed at Eisenhower's supposed failure to pursue the cold war vigorously and successfully.
Eisenhower's misguided efforts to balance the federal budget, it was said, had resulted in an inadequate military posture and an unwillingness to confront America's communist enemies in areas involving either conventional or guerrilla warfare. The whole situation and the USA’s stance on Vietnam seems to be a mixture of paranoia of Communism, and a reluctance to enter another war.
