Saw Zaw what war did a democrat start?

After doing some research. Eisehhower had the first involvement in Vietnam. However Johnson made the war an official hot war with the fabricated Gulf Of Tonkin incident. Kennedy wisely wanted to pull out.

The "Vietnam War", which was a civil war was well underway before the US had any involvement, Kennedy sent additional American 'advisors' for a total of 16.200 (an increase of 4.000) from IKE's build-up after taking over from the defeated French expedition, to help the South Vietnamese. On Oct 6 1963 he signed an executive (NSAM 263) National Security Action Memorandum) report that provided for the removal of 1000 troops in December 1963 and the vast majority of troops were to be out by 1965. He strongly felt that this was a no win scenario, and that the Vietnamese people were not behind the corrupt government of South Viet-Nam . After JFK was killed, LBJ countermanded that order with NSAM 273, and increased the number of troops dramatically, eventually to 500.000 within 2 years, eventually resulting in the deaths of 58.000 American soldiers throughout the Johnson and Nixon presidencies. These soldiers died in vain, and tore the USA apart with civil strife and eventually culminated with the loss of American's trust in government with the final insult of the "Watergate travesty" which had ties all the way back to that dark day in Dallas on November 22, 1963, when America lost it's last independent leader, before the corporate military industrial take-over. JFK had warned us all . And we did not listen.. Now that's the way it was.

1953 - The French grant Laos independence; Vietnam soon invades Laos.

1954 - Battle of Dienbienphu occurs where 40 thousand Vietnamese attack French posts; the French subsequently lose. The Geneva Convention end hostilities, the 17th parallel divides north and south Vietnam. SEATO is created.

1956 - The French leave Vietnam for good. Sen. John F. Kennedy says "Vietnam represents the cornerstone of the free world in southeast Asia."

1957 - American special forces begin training South Vietnamese; terrorist attack wound 13 Americans.

1959 - Ho Chi Minh Trail is built creating a major thoroughfare for the communists in North Vietnam; Diem of South Vietnam cracks down on dissidents.

1960 - Universal conscription in North Vietnam commences; Kennedy defeats V.P. Nixon; the Vietcong forms (National Liberation Front).

1963 - After the North Vietnamese defeat the South Vietnamese in yet another confrontation, Kennedy tells the press in July "We don't have a prayer of staying over there, but I can't give up a piece of territory like that to the Communists and get the American people to re-elect me." the United States informally commits to defend South Vietnam… John F. Kennedy is assassinated… Lyndon B. Johnson assumes the presidency.

1964 - The Gulf of Tonkin incident officially pushes the U.S. into conflict in Indochina… LBJ soundly re-elected. U.S. has 23 thousand troops in Vietnam by the end of the year.


1965 - Operation Rolling Thunder begins three years of continuous bombings.

1966 - B-52s are first used in Vietnam; Johnson visits South Vietnam; veterans from World Wars I and II and Korea march in protest against the war in New York City; the year ends with 390 thousand troops in Vietnam.

1967 - Largest contingent of troops in Vietnam at one time (500 thousand plus)… Democratic challengers begin challenging the incumbent Johnson… 'summer of love' in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury; Martin Luther King declares he's against the war in Vietnam; Defense Secretary Robert McNamara says thus far the bombing is ineffective.

1968 - TET Offensive changes the course of the war and the mindset of Americans… Johnson will not seek re-election… Martin Luther King is assassinated as is Robert F. Kennedy… The Democratic Convention witnesses riots and unrest in Chicago… Richard M. Nixon elected president in a tight three-way race. My Lai massacre takes place.

1969 - Vietnam War intensifies, while troops begin returning home (Vietnamization)… The secret bombing of Cambodia begins

1970 - Kent State episode.

1971 - Pentagon Papers are published by the New York Times. The New York Times said that the Pentagon Papers "demonstrated, among other things, that the Johnson Administration had systematically lied, not only to the public but also to Congress, about a subject of transcendent national interest and significance

1972 - Henry Kissinger says "peace is at hand" in Vietnam."

1973 - Cease fire in Vietnam is signed. Last American troops leave Vietnam. Hearings on Cambodia begin in Congress.

1975 - North Vietnam invades South Vietnam. Vietnam officially "falls" to communism.

1995 - U.S. normalizes relations with Vietnam.

1998 - U.S. normalizes economic ties with Vietnam.