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Eisenhower's domino theory of 1954 was a specific description of the situation and conditions within Southeast Asia at the time, and he did not suggest a generalized domino theory as others did afterward. During the summer of 1963, Buddhists protested about the harsh treatment they were receiving under the Diem government of South Vietnam.
President Eisenhower used the phrase "falling dominoes" in a press conference. This was the origin of the domino theory which postulated that if Vietnam became communist the other nearby states would soon follow. The domino theory was a prominent justification for the Vietnam War in the United States during the 1960s. [7]: 10 14 April
President John F. Kennedy, who subscribed to the "domino theory" that communism would spread to other countries if Vietnam fell, expanded U.S. aid to South Vietnam, increasing the number of advisors from 900 to 16,300, but this failed to produce results.
Apart from the Domino Theory, there was a sense that the objective of preventing a communist takeover of a pro-Western government in South Vietnam was a noble goal. Many Americans were also concerned about maintaining dignity in the event of disengaging from the war or, as President Richard M. Nixon later described it, "achieving Peace with Honor."
As France withdrew from a provisionally divided Vietnam in late 1954, the United States increasingly stepped in to support the South Vietnamese leaders due to the Domino theory, which theorized that if one nation would turn to communism, the surrounding nations were likely to fall like dominoes and become communist as well. The Soviet Union and ...
However, with the lingering threat coming from communist North Vietnam and the possibility of the domino theory with Indochina turning into a communist frontier, SEATO got these countries under its protection – an act that would be considered to be one of the main justifications for the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. [18]
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What would become known as the "domino theory" became the basis for American policy on Vietnam, after President Johnson approved National Security Action Memorandum 288 and the recommendations made to him by Secretary of Defense McNamara. "We seek an independent non-Communist South Vietnam," McNamara wrote, adding that "unless we can achieve ...