James F Slaton

Intervention in Vietnam: President Eisenhower's Foreign Policy James F Slaton

For a period of thirty years, from 1945 to 1975, the United States employed countless numbers of financial, material, and human resources toward Vietnam in an effort to shape and control that country's political destiny. Large scale American military involvement effectively began in March of 1965, with the landing of U. S. Marines to defend DaNang airfield. By March of 1969, the number of U. S. forces alone deployed to prosecute the Vietnam War exceeded 600,000. By war's end, more than 3.5 million (estimated) combat casualties were sustained by the U. S., South, and North Vietnamese forces. How did the United States come to be involved in this Southeastern Asian nation? What political forces were in action that caused American leaders to view the fate of Vietnam as a critical national security interest? Who was responsible for the 46,000 Americans killed in action during this unpopular war?