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American involvement in Vietnam escalated dramatically during the early 1960s. What began as a programme of military advisors under Eisenhower and Kennedy became a full-scale war under President Lyndon B. Johnson. This lesson examines how and why the USA was drawn ever deeper into the conflict.
President John F. Kennedy took office in January 1961 committed to the policy of containment and the domino theory. He increased US involvement in Vietnam significantly.
| Kennedy's Actions | Detail |
|---|---|
| Military advisors | Increased the number of US military advisors in South Vietnam from ~900 to ~16,000 |
| Strategic Hamlet Programme | Relocated Vietnamese peasants into fortified villages to isolate them from the Viet Cong; widely resented and largely unsuccessful |
| Green Berets | Sent US Special Forces to train South Vietnamese troops in counter-insurgency |
| Support for coup | Kennedy tacitly approved the overthrow of Diem in November 1963 |
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