In 1945, Communist leader Ho Chi Minh proclaimed a Democratic Republic of Vietnam and named Hanoi its capital. During World War II, Ho secretly received American assistance against the Japanese, but the financial aid stopped when the war ended because Truman refused to continue offering support to a known Communist. In 1946, the French government recognized Ho's Viet Minh government as a "free state" within the northern portion of the French-controlled region. By the end of the year, however, Ho challenged attempts by the French to begin a new regime in southern Vietnam. The conflict damaged relations between the two governments and started the First Indochina War.

By 1950, Ho's Communist government, which was now dependent on the Soviet Union and Red China for help, challenged French control of the region. In 1954, French forces attempting to maintain colonial rule battled Ho's Communist rebels. Though President Eisenhower did not want to enter into another Asian war, the United States agreed to finance nearly 80 percent of France's military efforts.

As massive attacks weakened the position of the French military, representatives from France, Britain, the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, and the Viet Minh gathered in Geneva to establish a peace agreement. The Geneva Accords proposed to neutralize Cambodia and Laos and establish a dividing line across Vietnam at the 17th parallel. The Viet Minh were given control of the north while the French maintained authority over the southern region. The agreement stipulated that elections be held in 1956 and the country reunified. Eisenhower refused to sign the agreement because he worried about the domino effect it could create—if one country falls to communism, more will follow.

The growing Communist presence in Vietnam forced the United States to organize defense arrangements for Southeast Asia. During a 1954 meeting in Manila, representatives from the Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan, Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States created the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). Each country agreed that if one member were attacked, the rest would offer defense assistance. Critics believed that America would carry the burden of the defense agreement by supplying the majority of the military forces and financial aid.

At the urging of United States and French officials, Ngo Dinh Diem took control of South Vietnam. Eisenhower offered to help Diem "develop and maintain a strong, viable state, capable of resisting subversion or aggression through military means." The president also allowed CIA agents to train Diem's military and police forces. In return, America expected the new leader to introduce political and economic reforms.

After receiving assistance from the United States, Diem refused to follow through on the agreement. He tightened control of the country and allowed widespread corruption. In 1956, Diem also refused to permit elections to reunify the country, as stipulated in the Geneva Accords. Diem quickly lost the support of many South Vietnamese, many of whom were recruited by Communist organizations. In 1957, guerilla forces known as the Viet Cong, or the National Liberation Front (NLF), staged attacks on Diem's government, assassinating almost 2,000 officials.

The NLF demanded that the Catholic-dominated Ngo Dinh Diem regime be replaced with "a government that represents all social classes and religions." The group also vowed to take land away from the rich—which had been seized by the Vietminh during the Indochina War—to give to the country's peasants. This promise persuaded many poor South Vietnamese to join guerillas fighting against Diem's government. Civil War swept through South Vietnam. With Communist involvement on the other side of the war, the Eisenhower administration was forced to "sink or swim with Ngo Dinh Diem." The decision to become involved in the fighting in Vietnam deeply entrenched the United States in a political quandary that would span across five presidencies.

Copyright 2006 The Regents of the University of California and Monterey Institute for Technology and Education