PathtoWar

Vietnam - Path to the War

The United State's involvement in Vietnam began with the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence in 1945. The rebels in Vietnam had successfully gained freedom from France. As a result, the country was divided at the 17th parallel. The northern part of the country was lead by communist leader Ho Chi Minh. The southern part of the country was lead by Ngo Dinh Diem. Because the US wanted to stop the spread of communism, they decided to side with the French in the southern part of Vietnam. The Viet Minh of North Vietnam were upset with the refusal to run elections, so they started to go to war. Then, president Eisenhower sent over 900 military advisers to see what the situation was like. JFK increased that number to 11,000.

Diem was very unpopular with his own people and the US. He ended up being assassinated. Many government officials in the US believed in the domino effect. If one country fell to communism, they would all fall to communism. Then in 1964, president Johnson announced that the USS Maddox was sunk in the Gulf of Tonkin by North Vietnamese. In retaliation, Congress gave Johnson the ability to use troops to help South Vietnam. Although the US never actually declared war, they sent troops in. The US Marines were sent in to Vietnam in 1965. The US was officially in the war in Vietnam.