Acheson Memo of 1949
Dean Acheson served as the Assistant Secretary of State from 1941-1945, as the Undersecretary of State from 1945-1947, and as Secretary of State from 1949-1952. This cable demonstrated the American government's view of Ho Chi Minh's politics.

George Kennan Memoirs-Vietnam
George Kennan's famous "Long Telegram" and his Foreign Affairs article in the late 1940's helped define the American policy of containment of Communism. In this excerpt from his memoirs, however, he noted that, as far back as 1950, he was not an advocate of a US military commitment in Southeast Asia.

Joe McCarthy & Communism
American foreign and domestic policy were inextricably linked. Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis) led a campaign to identify and eliminate Communists from the US government. Dean Acheson, in fact, was one of his targets. While McCarthy's charges were wild and irresponsible, his presence had a great effect on American policies.

Nixon April 1954
Richard Nixon was a Republican congressman and Senator from California. He was Vice President of the United States under Dwight Eisenhower from 1963-1961. He was elected to two terms as President but resigned in disgrace in 1974. Nixon would have a voice in US policy in Vietnam for over 20 years.

Galbraith 1
An economist, John Kenneth Galbraith served the US government in different roles for many decades. Under President Kennedy, Galbraith served as Ambassador to India. He offered advice to Kennedy on Vietnam throughout the 1000 days of the Kennedy administration.

Kennedy to Diem 1961
In this letter of December 14, 1961, President Kennedy tried to spell out the extent of the American commitment to South Vietnam.

Very Real War
Homer Bigart was a New York Times correspondent who covered the situation in Vietnam. He saw that the role of advisors in Vietnam had led American soldiers into combat.

Galbraith II
As the American presence in South Vietnam expanded, Galbraith explained to President Kennedy what he saw there.

Browne on Buddhist Monks
On June 11, 1963, Venerable Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk, set himself afire in Saigon. He was protesting the treatment of Buddhists under the regime of Ngo Dinh Diem. Malcolm Browne, an American reporter, was there.

Diem Last Call
On November 1, 1963, President Ngo Dinh Diem was removed from office in a coup. This is the transcript of the last phone conversation between President Diem and the US Ambassador to South Vietnam, Henry Cabot Lodge.

Package Document, Tonkin Gulf
In early August 1964, attacks on American vessels in the Gulf of Tonkin led to American retaliatory airstrikes on North Vietnam and the passage by the American Congress of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. President Johnson used this resolution as the basis for subsequent American policies in Vietnam. What happened in Tonkin Gulf early in August 1964? These documents explore that question.

Goldwater's 1964 Acceptance Speech

Ho Chi Minh Documents on the Era of the First World War

State Department