The USA saw this involvement as a war against the Communist menace. The USA government were deeply concerned about the success of communism in South East Asia. The Americans lost 142,000 soldiers during the successful Korean War. The USA adopted the fear that their efforts would have been wasted if communism were to spread to Vietnam.
In World War II, Vietnam had been part of the Japanese French Empire. Financial backing from the USA in 1945 helped the French to return to Vietnam.
The beginning of US involvement came in 1950 when the USA gave $12 million worth of equipment to the French and in the 1954 Geneva conference it was decided the country would be divided. Ho Chi Minh would rule the Communist North Vietnam and Ngo Dinh Diem would rule the Democratic South Vietnam; the USA supported this.
President Eisenhower knew it would be difficult in getting the American public to support another war not long after Korea. Hence the idea of Eisenhower forming a small group of 12 ‘military advisors’. Eisenhower would then rely on these ‘military advisors’ to disable Vietnam becoming a communist state. These advisors were sent to Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam to mount up a propaganda campaign to persuade the Vietnamese people not to vote for the communist in the forthcoming elections. Some of this propaganda included forged documents that suggested that Vietminh and Chinese communists had killed innocent civilians in South Vietnam. Mercenaries were recruited to carry acts of sabotage in North Vietnam this was unsuccessful. Also in the South Vietnam election in 1955 between Bao Dai and Diem, Landsdale suggested using two ballot papers, red for Diem and green for Bao Dai. He hoped the significance of the two colours, red being good fortune and green for bad luck, would help influence the vote. When the voters arrived at the polling stations they found Diem’s supporters in attendance. Those who voted for Bao Dai were beaten up. This plot seemed to work as the result of the voting went in Diem’s favour. He said he achieved 98.2 percent of the vote. His American advisors warned him that these figures would not be believed and suggested that he publish a figure of around 70 percent, yet he refused. In July 1956 a general election for the whole of Vietnam was supposed to be held. On the contrary, Diem refused to accept this. Instead he began arresting his opponents. After a short period of time, approximately 100,000 people were put into prison camps. On the whole the propaganda campaign failed.
In 1960 the National Liberation Front was set up. The Americans called them the ‘Vietcong’ Guerrilla Fighters. The NFL was set up as Diem refused to hold the general election in 1956 and to fight for the unity of North and South Vietnam.
John. F. Kennedy was elected president of the USA in 1960-63. He wanted to stop the growth of the NFL and communism. He believed in the ‘Domino Theory’ which was if Vietnam fell into communism, it would spread to the rest of the world. He argued ‘ No other challenge is more deserving of our effort and energy… our security may be lost piece by piece, country by country’, but under his leadership, America would willing to ‘ pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.’ He stuck to this and arranged for South Vietnam to receive money needed to increase the size of the army, he also sent a hundred more military advisors and three hundred helicopters to Vietnam. Kennedy introduced the ‘Strategic Hamlet Programme’, which was an attempt to prevent the influence of the NLF on peasants. It failed because people were forced to move to patrolled villages, resented working without any pay, living under armed guard and also had to move away from ancestral home, which was believed to be very unlucky.
After the Buddhist monk, Thich Quang Duc, committed suicide, Kennedy was convinced the Diem would not be able to stop communism in South Vietnam.
In the beginning of November 1963, president Diem was overthrown. After the generals promised he would be allowed to leave the country, they changed their mind and killed him. Three weeks after President Kennedy was assassinated.
Vice President Lyndon Johnson became president after the assassination. He also believed in the ‘Domino Theory’. ‘The Tonkin incident’ was when the destroyer ‘Maddox’ was sent to North Vietnamese waters to get information on their defences. On August 2nd 1964, three torpedo boats fired upon the Maddox. Maddox fired back and reported they were under attack Freak weather reports and over-eager sonar men may have accounted for many reports. Johnson used the Tonkin incident as an excuse to bomb Hanoi in an attempt to persuade North Vietnam to cut off supplies to the NLF. The issue was debated in the US Congress. The senate and the House of Representatives approved the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. This meant Johnson could take all necessary measures against Vietnam in any way he saw fit. He won the 1964 election.
Johnson launched ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’ in February 1965. The plan was to destroy North Vietnam by bombing and to stop her helping guerrilla fighters in the South.
On March 8th 1964, 3,500 marines arrived in South Vietnam. The US marines were the first official US combat troops to be sent to Vietnam. 80 percent of the American public supported the war; this showed that the US was committed to fighting and defeating the NLF.
