Path+to+War

Pa th to the Vietnam W<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">a<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">r During WWII the U.S. Sought to end Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia and Vietnam. This desire led to the United States aiding the gorilla fighters also known as the Vietminh led by Ho Chi Minh. Ho Chi Minh believed in communism but at the same time admired the U.S. Later, when Japan lost WWII and left Vietnam Ho Chi Minh believed it was a chance to drive out the French. The French had previously held colonial power over Vietnam for 100 years.

President Truman thought the U.S.'s job was to stop communism from spreading. France, the United State's allies, thought the same thing. Because France and the United States were allies President Truman refused to respond to letters from Ho Chi Minh asking for help against the French. Instead Ho Chi Minh got communist China and the Soviet Union on his side. Therefore, throughout the duration of the Vietnam war the United States fought with the French against the Soviet Union, China, and Ho Chi Minh's soldiers. <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Ho Chi Minh vs. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">Ngo Dinh Diem.

From 1954-1963, Ngo Dinh Diem led South vietnam, after he refused to join the Northern vietnamians along with Ho Chi Minh. Dien was not very popular, and due to this he drove people into supporting Ho Chi Minh. He was against communism though, so the people who were also against it followed closely in his footsteps. Some of the things that made him less popular though was the fact that he was tied into the imprisonment and execution of Budhists, and was stubborn when it came to new ideas and changes.

Towards the beginning of the war, when the U.S. first sent aids to France, they included military mission and military advisors. The U.S. wasn't completely involved in the war until North Vietnam attacked the C. Turner Joy and the U.S.S. Maddox, which were two American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. After this happened, congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which helped in the U.S. expanding war effort. Congress agreed to let Lyndon B. Johnson have his "blank check" where he can send people to fight in Vietnam without declaring war.