Which president made a major commitment to fighting communism in south Vietnam?

Answer 1

Well...the majority of drama occurred on Nixon's watch; but it wasn't really his fault (although as commander in chief he was ultimately responsible for whatever happened in Vietnam).

The poor man was picked on so much, seemingly even worse than even LBJ was, that he went so far as to say on public television, "...at east you won't have Tricky Dick to pick on anymore..." when he left office after Watergate. But that treatment also made him lean and mean (tough!). He was the only US President to B52 the heck out of North Vietnam and North Vietnam's Army in the South; and he was the only US President to openly invade Cambodia & Laos in 1970 & 1971 respectively.

But...still being attacked by his political enemies & the public, they countered attacked Nixon and took away a good portion of his war powers. This resulted in one the worst defeats the US Army came near to taking during the Invasion of Laos in 1971 (Operation Lam Son 719), and ultimately a Congressional fund (money) cut off for artillery shells, tank shells, bombs, and fuel for the South Viet Army when US forces began to re-deploy in 1972/73. And of course there was the Kent State Shootings which occurred as a result of his invasion of Cambodia in 1970. By '73/'74 Nixon was facing prison and at the least, became the only US President to resign from office, because of Watergate (an invasion of his anti-war protester enemy's records).

Bottom line: "Maybe" if congress left Nixon alone (completely) the South could've been defended a lot better; unlimited air-strikes, unlimited jets, tanks, ammo, bombs, artillery shells, etc. "Maybe" the south could've held. But that's a strong "maybe" those Northerners were extremely aggressive men.

A simpler alternate view is that it was not the job of any United States president to determine the internal politics of Vietnam. In 1950 the Vietnamese chose Ho Chi Minh to lead their country and the United States and France chose to interfere, placing Bao Dai as Emperor of Vietnam. It is wrong to interfere in Another Country; we would not want Mexico or Nigeria to appoint a president for the United States.

Answer 2

President lyndon B Johnson asked congress for the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, enacted on August 7, 1964, giving Johnson authority to take whatever measures were necessary to protect U.S. interests in South Vietnam.

By the end of 1965, multiple Army and Marine Divisions were on the ground in South Vietnam.

Answer 3

Richard Nixon, not lyndon johnston