Back In Nam PT 2
1960-1968
Kennedy is elected
In 1960 John F. Kennedy became president at the height of the Cold War. Kennedy's main interest went towards foreign affairs. He wanted to increase his involvement in Vietnam who was battling for communism. He sent U.S military troops to South Vietnam who did not want communism. From 1961 through 1963 Kennedy increased the amount of troops in South Vietnam from 900 to more than 16,000 . On November 22, 1963 Kennedy was shot and killed. He left a big impact and got very involved with the war.
L.B.J is in the house
When Kennedy died Lyndon B. Johnson took over as president. He came into power at a surprising time in the middle of the Vietnam war. He followed in Kennedy's path and continued to support South Vietnam. He continued to put U.S troops in Vietnam, but it started to become unsuccessful. As the war waged on more and more troops died and people back in the U.S became angry at Johnson for continuing the war. Protests for the war began as Johnson became more unpopular for his involvement with the war. However Johnson didn't listen to them because he believed if South Vietnam became communist then other countries in Asia would be communists too. The only way to stop the spreading of communism was to continue to fight. By 1968 the number of U.S troops in Vietnam was more than 500,000. The war became bloodier as even more U.S troops died. By the end of his presidency he wanted to focus more on the war than presidential campaigns. Also he got a lot of hate from U.S citizens, so he decided to not run for his re-election. A lot of people didn't like L.B.J for getting so involved with foreign affairs, but some people understood why he did it.