John Kennedy
1971.In Southeast Asia, Kennedy followed Eisenhower's lead by using limited military action as early as 1961 to fight
the Communist forces led by Ho Chi Minh. Proclaiming a fight against the spread of Communism, Kennedy enacted
policies providing political, economic, and military support for the unstable French-installed South Vietnamese
government, which included sending 16,000 military advisors and U.S. Special Forces to the area. Kennedy also
authorized the use of free-fire zones, napalm, defoliants, and jet planes. U.S. involvement in the area escalated until
Lyndon Johnson, his successor, directly deployed regular U.S. forces for fighting the Vietnam War.By July 1963,
Kennedy faced a crisis in Vietnam: despite increased U.S. support, the South Vietnamese military was only marginally
effective against pro-Communist Viet Minh and Viet Cong forces. Regarding Ngo Dinh Diem, the Roman Catholic
President of South Vietnam, as insufficiently anti-Communist, the U.S
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