American Intervention

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American Intervention

• Vietnam 1950s-60s

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Why go to Vietnam?

• Domino Theory!!!
• You have a row of dominoes set up. You knock the
  first one, and what will happen to the last one
  is a certainty, that it will go over very
  quickly
• President Eisenhower 1954

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Propping Up the Domino

• US leader of the Free World?
• The popular view of the time that if the US did
  not intervene then Communism would spread.
• Therefore the US had no alternative to support
  South Vietnam?
• Financial Aid
• Military Aid

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Problems in The South

• Active Communist guerrilla movements
• Very Strong nationalist side to these movements
• Strong opposition to the regimes like that of
  President Diem
• Vietnam was a domino on the verge of being
  knocked over

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Limited Intervention

• Increased during the Kennedy administration
• US Military advisors
• 1961 3,000 Military advisors
• 1962 11,000 Military advisors
• Slowly these advisors were drawn into conflict
  with the Viet Cong

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What was the US advisors Role?

• Improve the Training of the South Vietnamese
  forces to counter the growing threat from the
  Viet Cong

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Kennedy-LBJ

• After Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963
  his Vice-president Lyndon B Johnson (LBJ) was
  sworn in as President
• Johnson was convinced the Soviets and the Chinese
  were behind the growing problems in Vietnam.
• He believed the Domino Theory was correct and
  losing Vietnam and the area would weaken the
  international position of USA

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• Full Scale
  involvement
• Assistance