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JFK
Hi. 17/M. Im studying american history, and one topic is the vietnam war. I do not understand why John F. Kennedy is considered a hero, when in reality, his actions worsened the state of the USA in vietnam. Maybe im missing something? anyone help me out?
thanks.
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At best, it could have to do with civil rights legislation passed by him.
At worst and most realistically, you're not missing anything.
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funny thing about that.... people naturally revere the dead, its like when my troop lost guys in afghanistan, we all talked shit about them when they were alive, but the second they died, all you heard from every single motherfucker was "how awesome they were" and shit like that. look at lincoln, same thing, he was despised by everybody until he was martyred. same damn thing, any jackass can be a jackass, but a dead jackass is a fucking hero.
-Gunner
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I've also studied American History.
Believe it or not..JFK was willing to sacrifice much for his country. He made some pretty good economical decisions. He played a role in creating the peace corps, which are volunteer's to help fight for the country. He responded to the Cuban Missile Crisis with bravery, JFK went for a less dangerous response and ordered a blockade of Cuba in order to prevent Russian ships from bringing additional missiles and construction materials to Cuba.
Now, During the Vietnam war..President Kennedy sent the Special Forces, known also as the Green Berets, to Vietnam.
Green Berets: [Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
Not sure if this helps..but, here's what I found on the same site:
Vietnam
The extent of Kennedy's involvement in Vietnam remained classified until the release of The Pentagon Papers in 1971.[28] 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. gave secret assurances of non-interference for an impending coup d'état.[29] On November 1, 1963, South Vietnamese generals overthrew the Diem government, arresting and soon killing Diem (though the circumstances of his death were obfuscated).[30] Kennedy sanctioned Diem's overthrow.[31] One reason to support the coup was a fear that Diem might negotiate a neutralist coalition government which included Communists, as had occurred in Laos in 1962. Dean Rusk, Secretary of State, remarked "This kind of neutralism…is tantamount to surrender."
Kennedy increased the number of U.S. military in Vietnam from 800 to 16,300. It remains a point of some controversy among historians whether or not Vietnam would have escalated to the point it did had Kennedy served out his full term and been re-elected in 1964.[32] Fueling the debate are statements made by Kennedy's and Johnson's Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara that Kennedy was strongly considering pulling out of Vietnam after the 1964 election. In the film "The Fog of War", not only does McNamara say this, but a tape recording of Lyndon Johnson confirms that Kennedy was planning to withdraw from Vietnam, a position Johnson states he strongly disapproved of.[33] Additional evidence is Kennedy's National Security Action Memorandum (NSAM) 263, dated October 11, 1963, which ordered withdrawal of 1,000 military personnel by the end of 1963.[34] Nevertheless, given the stated reason for the overthrow of the Diem government, such action would have been a policy reversal, but Kennedy was generally moving in a less hawkish direction in the Cold War since his acclaimed speech about World Peace at American University the previous June 10, 1963.
After Kennedy's assassination, new President Lyndon B. Johnson immediately reversed his predecessor's order to withdraw 1,000 military personnel by the end of 1963 with his own NSAM 273 on November 26, 1963.
Good luck, hope I helped :)
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Well, in order to understand this you have to look at the whole country and era as a whole... not just JFK seperately from the era.
Personally, I think people then saw JFK the same way we now see Obama... media glory hero, etc.
You could also ask your teacher about this one, since it's a good question.
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