dominoes

The American government was worried that Communism would spread in a domino fashion. This had happened in China and Korea until it was stopped in the Korean War. One of the reasons for becoming involved in Vietnam was that it bordered Communist China. If the Communism could be stopped in Vietnam, the dominoes would stop falling.

-The US had a theory of containment at the time and feared that if the dominoes were to happen, the containment would flounder. -Made by Eisenhower -JFK, Johnson, and Nixon all followed this theory after Eisenhower left office -The idea came from once Vietnam or any part of Indochina "fell" to communism, the rest would spiral out of control. -Used to justify intervention by the US around the world.

Political, Long term, ideology