Why did the United States enter the Vietnam War? Was this an easy decision?

A big
reason the United States got involved in the Vietnam War was to stop the spread of
communism.After WWII, communism started to spread from the Soviet Union south.In 1949, China's
Communist Party overcame the Nationalist Party to take control of the country, and communism
continued to spread.Vietnam, dealing with pro- and anti-communist forces, was another domino
falling to communism.

The domino theory was a Cold War policy that dictated
that when one country fell to communism, neighboring countries would fall as well, like dominoes
knocking each other over.The US was concerned that eventually, this chain of dominoes would
reach North America.Once the Soviet Union became communist, it was followed by China, North
Korea, and Vietnam.This was part of the reason the US became concerned with what was happening
in Vietnam, in case communism continued to spread.

The US at this time had a
foreign policy called containment.Written by George Kennan, who served as a diplomat in Russia
during WWII, containment operated with the assumption that the Soviets wanted to spread their
ideals (communism) and would do all they could to

"weaken power and influence of Western Powers on colonial backward, or dependent
peoples."

Containment, then, was to intervene in
places where the US felt the people would fall to communism.The containment policy, as well as
the domino theory, encouraged the US to intervene in Vietnam to stop the spread of
communism.

Although in the 1950's the Red Scare in the US meant that people
were highly distrustful of communism, our government did not easily go into war in
Vietnam.During John F. Kennedy's (JFK) tenure as President, the US increased financial and
military aid to Vietnam, who was battling against the communist uprising, but did not commit to
complete military intervention or war.Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ), who assumed power after JFK's
assassination, gave more aid to Vietnam in the mid-1960's.When two US ships were destroyed in
the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, allowing LBJ more
power to go to war.With these powers, LBJ started to drop bombs on Vietnam and other
communist-sympathizing countries like Laos.By 1965, the US made the formal decision to go to
war.

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