Vietnam War

With this, the neighboring country of Cambodia was on the side of the North. South Vietnam became uneasy, and assistance was needed to fight against the communist North. The best answer for South Vietnam was to call on the United States. .
             The U.S., like Russia, was very wary of what was going on in Vietnam. From 1954 to 1960 the U.S. sent a few number of troops into Vietnam to help resist the Communist, but little was made of it. In 1960 John F. Kennedy became president in the U.S. and things began to turn for the nations involvement in Vietnam. Originally President Kennedy did not want to get involved with the conflict in Vietnam. Prior to his election President Kennedy said, "Should I become President, I will not risk American lives by permitting any other nation to drag us into the wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time through an unwise commitment that is unwise militarily" (Duiker 55). At the time, the United States was in the midst of its own conflict with Russia, which was called the Cold War. After World War II and The Korean Conflict, the last thing U.S. citizens wanted was for the government to send troops into Vietnam. In 1961, Russia began aiding North Vietnam with supplies and finances. The revolution in Vietnam was imminent, and the American government believed it had no other choice but to help South Vietnam fight for its freedom. In 1961, after Kennedy was elected he recognized the problem. "Now we have a problem in making our power credible, and Vietnam is the place" (Nalty 76). America did not want Russia to have the ability to aid the Communist North without a defense brought by South Vietnam. It was not as much about the U.S. stopping North Vietnam per say, but rather America stopping the spread of Communism around the World. This was called by the U.S. as "The Domino Effect." As former American President Eisenhower said, "You have a row of dominoes set up; you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is that it will go over very quickly" (Nalty 314).