Kennedy and Vietnam

Here are some facts about John F. Kennedy that I thought most people already knew. Being that I was mistaken, let us review......................................The first point is that this President, at least as much as his predecessor, was a staunch/virulent anti-Communist. This is reflected in his rhetoric as well as his actions. He was also a strong proponent of the "domino theory" (this, according to his closest advisers; Bundy, McNamara) and, yes, he applied this clearly to the situation in Vietnam. I cite, specifically, his first speech as President, where he stated unequivocally that one of our main goals should be to prevent Communist domination of South Vietnam, and National Security Action memo 52, which essentially said the same thing..................................Couple this, I'm saying, with his goal of financing the South's army from 150,000 to 170,000, his increase of U.S. military advisers to 12,000, and, especially, his recommendation that U.S. special forces (trained in guerrilla tactics) be employed for counter-insurgency and, yes, you kind of get the picture here...................................Granted, by 1963, Kennedy, sensing that a military victory was an improbability (the pragmatic side of Kennedy) and clearly becoming disillusioned with the Diem regime, appeared to be leaning toward a lessening of our presence in that region. BUT, it also must be stated, folks, this was purely a Realpolitik conclusion by Kennedy. He didn't suddenly start thinking that maybe Ho Chi Minh....was in fact the ANSWER, a small-d democrat in wolf's clothing only, etc.. No, not even remotely so, I'm saying.