Kennedy Increased American Commitment in Vietnam to Keep Its Superpower Status: A Discussion
Kennedy increased American commitment in Vietnam to keep its Super power status, how far do you agree or disagree?
Previously criticizing Eisenhower for letting Communism spread Kennedy increased American commitment to Vietnam with the same world view as others at the time; a stand to communism must be made in order to contain it. Vietnam was chosen for its geographical reasons and with a long thin coast making access and retreat easy. Kennedy developed the idea of flexible response sending 700 advisers and 400 special services to train the ARVN troops. By 1961 he increased commitment and by 1962 12,00 advisers were in Vietnam. With flexible response and the Strategic Hamlet’s project Kennedy was looking at an outcome of real commitment to Vietnam. Historians differ on views as the reason for Kennedy’s increased commitment, George Herrings questioned Kennedy and Eisenhower’s fundamental brief in Vietnam to defend democracy, arguing that evidence would suggest their support for Diem’s regime having more to do with the containment trap on the basis of own strategic interests, keeping the USA’s superpower status. Others such as Schlesinger took the Quagmire theory suggesting that each president took one step further in committing America, thinking that they were solving Vietnam’s problems. This would mean devoting attention to what was actually happening in the south to resolve it, with the interest of the Vietnamese people, not to keep America’s superpower status as Herring wrote.
America was one of two superpowers of the world the other being the USSR, George Kerrum worked between them and in 1947 developed the containment theory from the ‘The Long Telegram’ this being enforced by having beaten the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. It is also important to remember that Europe was divided by an iron curtain with the back drop of the cold war hanging over them, a bipolar war was being set in place with Kennedy increasing commitment for political and economic
Previously criticizing Eisenhower for letting Communism spread Kennedy increased American commitment to Vietnam with the same world view as others at the time; a stand to communism must be made in order to contain it. Vietnam was chosen for its geographical reasons and with a long thin coast making access and retreat easy. Kennedy developed the idea of flexible response sending 700 advisers and 400 special services to train the ARVN troops. By 1961 he increased commitment and by 1962 12,00 advisers were in Vietnam. With flexible response and the Strategic Hamlet’s project Kennedy was looking at an outcome of real commitment to Vietnam. Historians differ on views as the reason for Kennedy’s increased commitment, George Herrings questioned Kennedy and Eisenhower’s fundamental brief in Vietnam to defend democracy, arguing that evidence would suggest their support for Diem’s regime having more to do with the containment trap on the basis of own strategic interests, keeping the USA’s superpower status. Others such as Schlesinger took the Quagmire theory suggesting that each president took one step further in committing America, thinking that they were solving Vietnam’s problems. This would mean devoting attention to what was actually happening in the south to resolve it, with the interest of the Vietnamese people, not to keep America’s superpower status as Herring wrote.
America was one of two superpowers of the world the other being the USSR, George Kerrum worked between them and in 1947 developed the containment theory from the ‘The Long Telegram’ this being enforced by having beaten the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. It is also important to remember that Europe was divided by an iron curtain with the back drop of the cold war hanging over them, a bipolar war was being set in place with Kennedy increasing commitment for political and economic