How Did Harry Truman Lead To The Vietnam War

Harry Truman had helped provide economic aid to France after Vietnam had gotten their independence from them because he wanted to contain communism. He also provided aid to countries like Turkey and Greece.
However, despite the support from the United States France lost their battle against communism in Indochina. This led to the Geneva Accords which divided Vietnam in the 17th parallel. This was put in place trying to keep peace in Indochina, but it only angered Minh because the Soviets and China forced him to sign the treaty. Furthermore, Dwight D. Eisenhower also supported Truman’s acts against communism. He created this concept called the Domino Theory which stated that if South Vietnam were to fall into the hands of Viet Minh, the neighboring
Therefore, Johnson stepped up to become president of the United States. Johnson agreed to continue the war against communism, but he was hesitant about sending troops because he did not want to risk American lives for Vietnam’s war. Johnson knew that not allowing troops go into Vietnam would risk his reelection, but he did not change his mind. But he allowed Operation Plan 34B to take place which was sending mercenaries to North Vietnam to sabotage. The first part of this was to send the USS Maddox into the Gulf of Tonkin to examine North Vietnamese naval defences. This led to the attack on the Maddox by three North Vietnamese torpedo boats which allowed Johnson to gain permission from Congress to do anything necessary to defeat North Vietnam. Johnson chose the bombing route aka Operation Rolling Thunder which lasted three years. It was a bombing of North Vietnam to convince Ming’s government to agree to end the war. Moreover, it didn’t work out because the Vietcong started to attack US bases in South Vietnam and the bombing raids were used against supply lines that the North used weren’t effective since they would practically rebuild overnight. Johnson despite the the numerous casualties didn’t want to bring back troops because he didn’t want to be the first president to lose a war. He started a draft which required all men starting from 18 to go to war which angered many Americans. The media took advantage of the war occurring and would send out their reporters to make Vietnam the first televised war which shocked the nation. The media caused a negative outlet for the people because they saw the loss of lives in Vietnam. Furthermore, John became highly disliked by the American people after the Vietcong’s Tet offensive. The tet offensive was surprise attacks led by the Vietcong in order to break the stalemate because they believed their attacks would cause a rebellion in South Vietnam. It