Regis T. Sabol

President John F. Kennedy supported the democratic government of South Vietnam by sending military equipment and advisers, but he would not send American troops when Communist North Vietnam threatened to take over the country. His successor, Lyndon Johnson, advocated stronger action. When on August 4, 1964, North Vietnam launched what many claim was a dubious attack on American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin, Johnson responded with air attacks against North Vietnam. The war escalated under Johnson, who introduced combat troops to Vietnam in March 1965. By 1967, 15,997 U.S. servicemen had been killed in the war, and opposition to the war grew, dividing the nation. Richard Nixon, who succeeded Johnson as president, expanded the war into neighboring Laos and Cambodia. When American college students protesting the invasions were killed, American opposition increased, pressuring Nixon to...