President John F. Kennedy

President John F. Kennedy was elected as the American’s 35th president in the year 1960. He served as a president for only two years before he was assassinated in the year 1963. His term in office is best remembered for two things. One of them is championing for the human freedom and another one is his policies in regards to Cuba, Vietnam, and civil rights. One notable fact about Kennedy’s regime advocated for the policy on the Vietnam War that led to the tripling the military aid and advisors to the south of the Vietnamese. Moreover, he also declined for the idea of withdrawal of the American military personnel from the Vietnam (Smith 57). In this paper, I would have an imaginary interview where I would ask President John F. Kennedy questions about the Vietnam War during his regime, then I would provide answers to those questions.
Why did you participate in the Vietnam War?
From my first speech, I outlined my desire of containing the spread of communism across the world. Besides, I also made it clear my intention of continuing with the President Dwight Eisenhower’s policy. Therefore, I had to support the Diem’s government of the South Vietnam. Moreover, I also believed in the ‘Domino Theory’ that in the event that the South Vietnam fell to the communist then the neighboring states were also to suffer the same fate. Therefore, the only way of containing the spread of communism in Asia was to participate in the Vietnam War (Smith 60).
What was your actual involvement in this war?
My participation in the Vietnam started in the year 1961.

My government decided to finance the growth of the South Vietnamese army that was initially 150,000 to the 170,000. Moreover, my government also agreed that more than 1,000 American military advisors were to be dispatched to the South Vietnam with the sole purpose of training the South Vietnamese army. However, I regret to say that these decisions were not made public simply because they contradicted the Geneva Agreement of the year 1954 (Smith 67).
Can you tell me something about ‘Strategic Hamlet’ and did it succeed?
The Strategic Hamlet was a joint governmental program that was planned and executed by both the South Vietnamese and my government during the wake of the Vietnam War. The Strategic Hamlet was formed purposefully to contain the spread of the communism within the South Vietnam. It worked by pacifying and minimizing the influence of the communism among the Vietnamese residing in the rural parts of the country. It is true that the Strategic Hamlet did fail terribly. In fact, the Strategic Hamlet made the South Vietnamese peasant to support the Northern Vietnamese communists. The peasant did not like the forceful eviction from their villages that they have lived for hundreds of years to the areas that the government thought was secure. In fact, the Strategic Hamlet made the Southern Vietnamese living in the rural areas to oppose the Diem’s government (Smith & Larry 226).
How did you respond to the failures of the Strategic Hamlet?
It is without a doubt that the Strategic Hamlet indeed failed. I can argue that it was behind the increase in three folds the membership of the National Liberation Front within the two years that Strategic Hamlet was operational. As a damage control measure, my government decided to increase the number of the American military advisors to 12,000 by the year 1962. Additionally, my government also decided to send 300 helicopters with American pilots to the South Vietnam. Despite the fact that everyone was not for the idea of the military combat, my government had little option but to engage in the military combat (Hybel 23).
What are some of the American military policy that failed to destroy North Vietnam’s ability to wage war?
One of the American’s military policies that failed to destroy the North Vietnam’s ability to wage war was the famous Operation Rolling Thunder. The Operation Rolling Thunder was a well-coordinated bombing campaign by the American aircraft on the North Vietnam targets. The main objective of the Operation Rolling Thunder was to pressurize the North Vietnam government and to reduce their capacity of waging war against the South Vietnamese government that was supported by the American government. The Operation Rolling Thunder marked the beginning of the American government sustained involvement in the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, this policy failed to destroy North Vietnam’s ability to wage war (Hybel 28).
What was behind the failures of the Operation Rolling Thunder in destroying the North Vietnam’s ability to wage war?
It is worth noting that North Vietnam lacked an effective air force to counter the American’s air strikes. However, they were rescued by the Soviet Union and China that assisted them in managing the constant American’s air strikes by coming up with what can be described as the sophisticated air defense system. The North Vietnam developed surface-to-air missiles together with the radar-controlled anti-aircraft artillery that were able to shoot down hundreds of the American’s military air crafts. Apart from shooting the American’s war air crafts, North Vietnam were also able to capture hundreds of American soldiers as prisoners of war (Hybel 31).
Is it right to describe the “Containment” as a flawed policy?
Right from the start, it can be argued that the Vietnam War was misguided. The architects of the containment policy that resulted in the Vietnam War such as the George Kennan, Robert MacNamara, and McGeorge Bundy have publicly declared that they were wrong regarding the Vietnam War. Therefore, containment policy was a flawed one (Smith & Larry 226).
Works cited
Hybel, Alex Roberto. “John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and the Vietnam War.” US Foreign Policy
Decision-Making from Kennedy to Obama (2014): 17-53. Web.
Smith, Gaddis, and Larry Berman. “Planning a Tragedy: The Americanization of the War in Vietnam.”
Foreign Affairs 61.1 (2012): 226. Web.
Smith, R. B. “The Kennedy Strategy Takes Shape.” An International History of the Vietnam War
(2009): 55-76. Web.