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Explain how Eisenhower’s belief in the domino theory shaped the us policy toward Vietnam

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Answer:

The domino theory was a Cold War policy that suggested a communist government in one nation would quickly lead to communist takeovers in neighboring states, each falling like a perfectly aligned row of dominos.

User Andrew Morris
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Answer:

Beginning in 1954, President Eisenhower’s policy toward Vietnam was based on his belief in the domino theory. He argued that if Vietnam fell to the Communists, all of Southeast Asia would fall as well, like dominos in a row. Therefore he funded and supplied the French in their move to retake Vietnam. When the Geneva Accords divided Vietnam into communist and democratic governments, U.S. officials backed Diem and South Vietnam against the Communist state of North Vietnam. President Kennedy endorsed Eisenhower’s stance against communism by sending more advisers and soldiers to Vietnam in 1961. When Johnson became president in 1963, he and his advisers refused to accept the possibility of a communist South Vietnam. The war intensified during his presidency, requiring more funding and more soldiers. Nonetheless, a majority in Congress agreed with Johnson that stopping communism in Vietnam took priority over domestic reform. After the Tet Offensive, Americans began to question their nation’s involvement in Vietnam’s internal conflict. President Nixon inherited the war and planned to continue to provide supplies and training to South Vietnam even as American troops left the country. In his determination to end the war, he bombed Laos and Cambodia. After his re-election in 1972, he agreed to the Paris Peace Accords, withdrew U.S. troops from Southeast Asia, and officially ended U.S. intervention there. Eisenhower’s belief in the domino theory—to stop communism lest it grow—had resulted in American involvement in Southeast Asia from 1954 to 1973, through four presidencies, and at a very high cost in loss of people and money to the United States. However, Eisenhower was partially correct as the neighboring countries of Laos and Cambodia fell to communist dictatorships.

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User JimLohse
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