An Avoidable War
After World War Two Vietnam struggled for independance from France.
The Vietnamese fought the French until 1954, when Vietnam was split up into North Vietnam and South Vietnam in which the 17th Parallel was used as the dividing point.
After Vietnam was split into two the countries had two entirely opposite forms of government. The North were lead by Communist Ho Chi Minh while the South were lead by Ngo Dinh Diem
The United States were unsure if it would be worth it to intervene with a country that was halfway around the world.
President Kennedy knew that if they did nothing it may fall into communist hands but full conflict could be costly. He decided that it was not worth the possible domino effect and the U.S. entered the war.
