Path+To+Vietnam

VIETNAM - THE PATH TO WAR You all know that the United States was involved in a major military conflict in Vietnam during the Cold War ... but why? What was America's "path to war"? Using the resources below and __Creating America__, your task this evening is to write a description in YOUR OWN WORDS of the causes of American involvement in Southeast Asia. Pretend you are writing it as a summary for on online encyclopedia or textbook. Your description should ...
 * be between ** two and four complete, well written paragraphs **
 * ** contain the following terms ** - France, Ho Chi Minh, communism, Ngo Dinh Diem, military advisors, Gulf of Tonkin, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Rolling Thunder
 * be** IN YOUR OWN WORDS ** (remember, it's easy to check this online)
 * ** contain two images ** THAT RELATE TO YOUR WRITING
 * Should **end with the first Marines landing in Vietnam** in 1965

The Vietnam War might have started in the sixties, but it's best to trace causes of it all the way back to the late 1800s, when France first gained possession of Indochina. All was well and good, but many Vietnamese wished to be free of France. Around the thirties, a Vietnamese rebel leader, Ho Chi Minh, became very popular, however, along came Japan, expanding in the Pacific. During the big dispute between Japan and the US, Ho Chi Minh actually got support from us(mainly because we wanted to deal a blow to Japan, but it's the thought that counts) despite his communistic ideas. After WWII concluded, France regained control for a short time before Vietnam declared their independence and fought the French off. At this point, Ho Chi Minh was expressing firm desire to turn Vietnam into a communist nation, and from there the country split.

Harry S. Truman, the president during Vietnam's rebellion, had supported Ho Chi Minh. However, his successor, Dwight D. Eisenhower, had a theory that if Vietnam fell to communism, the rest of indochina would follow, like falling dominoes. Both later presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson agreed with this. By then, Kennedy had sent in several thousand military advisors to help South Vietnam gain the edge they needed against their admittedly stronger opponents. The truth was, the leader of the South Vietnamese, Ngo Dinh Diem, was unpopular and corrupt, and everyone had guessed that if there was a free election to decide whether the country was to be lead by him or Ho Chi Minh, Ho would win without a doubt. Indeed, within a couple years, even American ships were attacked by North Vietnamese in the Gulf of Tonkin. President Johnson decided at that point to retaliate with hundreds of bombs dropped on North Vietnam, and in only a short matter of time was sending in American Marines; The United States were officially participating in the Vietnam War.