Which U.S. Presidents made decisions that affected the Vietnam War?

Answer 1

The following Presidents made decisions that had effects on the conflict in Vietnam: Harry S. Truman - 1945 to 1953 Dwight W. Eisenhower -1953 to1960 John F. Kennedy - 1960 to 1963 Lyndon B. Johnson - 1963 to 1968 Richard M. Nixon - 1968 to 1974 Gerald R. Ford - 1974 to 1976 Eisenhower's middle name was David, so he should be listed as Dwight D. Eisenhower. Term dates are loose and inconsistent as well. Truman is correct. Eisenhower is '53 - '61. JFK is '61 - '63. LBJ is '63 - '69. Nixon is '69 - '74. Ford's term was '74 - '77, although decisions about Vietnam War would have been moot after April 30, 1975.

Answer 2

President Eisenhower was concerned by the Communist victory over the French in 1954. His administration then agreed to free elections in Vietnam but quickly went back on the agreement when analysts said that Ho Chi Minh would win and make Vietnam a Communist country. Eisenhower then sent in military advisers and helped set up a separate government in South Vietnam. The CIA helped install Prime Minister Diem as President of the country.

President Kennedy increased the US military adviser force to 16,000. His administration used the CIA to overthrow the corrupt (but elected) government of President Diem in South Vietnam. Kennedy moved to reduce the US presence and pulled out 1,000 men. Shortly after Diem was killed, Kennedy was assassinated.

Lyndon Johnson believed the Vietnam War would be winnable, just as the insurgencies in Philippines and Indonesia had been put down. He began to accept the opinions of the generals and the war department as they requested more men and more equipment. The Johnson administration manufactured the Gulf of Tonkin incident which moved Congress to basically give the president war powers without a declaration of war. Johnson increased manpower to more than 540,000. He balked when (in spring of 1968) the military requested 200,000 more men. At roughly the same time, Walter Cronkite called the Vietnam war a quagmire and a stalemate that could not be won and Johnson realized that support for the war would now vaporize rapidly.

Robert Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey vied for the Democratic nomination in 1968 to replace Johnson. Both advocated a swift end to the war. Kennedy was killed and Humphrey lost to Richard Nixon.

Richard Nixon came into office promising 'peace with honor.' He slowly reduced the manpower in Vietnam but greatly multiplied the bombing campaigns. He expanded the war to neighboring Laos and Cambodia and permitted bombing so close to the Chinese border that several American jets were shot down and landed in China. He allowed the bombing and mining of Haiphong, which resulted in many Russian deaths and threats of direct intervention by the Russians. Nixon flew to China and persuaded the Chinese to withdraw support for Ho. Nixon's Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, finally crafted a peace deal with North Vietnam in 1973 (which everyone knew the Vietnamese would not keep). Vietnam fell to the Communists on April 29 - 30, 1975. Nixon resigned, primarily over Watergate.

Gerald Ford helped establish refugee camps for Vietnamese escaping the country. He allowed a few Vietnamese to come to the US. Ford had no direct role in the Vietnam War, but sent the Marines into Cambodia to rescue the crew of a ship taken by the Cambodian military. The 25th Infantry was placed on alert as backup to the Marines as the US prepared to invade Cambodia.

Presidents Carter and Reagan expanded the policy of allowing Vietnamese escaping communist persecution to come to the US. The policy also brought many Hmong, ethnic Chinese, Lao, and Cambodians to the US.