The failure to contain communism in South Vietnam by 1963 was the
result of Kennedy’s policies.
The failure to contain communism in South Vietnam by 1963 can be attributed in part to the
policies implemented by Kennedy in 1963. Set the scene in your first sentence, summarise what
is going on in the question. Kennedy’s approach to curbing communism in the region,
characterized by initiatives such as the Strategic Hamlet project (Jan 1963) and the use of
chemical defoliants on peasant lands, exacerbated social divisions and inadvertently
contributed to the spread of communism. JFK was also instrumental in his ideology of
containing communism through the domino theory and the substantial deployment of military
advisors, reaching 32,000 by 1962, which further reflected his determination to counter the
communist threat yet this indeed increased opposition through the support of Communism
However, it is essential to recognize that other underlying factors also played a significant role
in the propagation of communism in Vietnam. Diem's repressive policies, notably exemplified
by the Buddhist crisis of March 1963, alienated, and oppressed the South Vietnamese populace,
thereby garnering substantial support for the Communist cause. Moreover, the geopolitical
context Kennedy inherited from his predecessor, Dwight D. Eisenhower, necessitated continued
support for the controversial Diem regime to avoid appearing weak on communism, echoing
concerns that had plagued the Truman administration during the loss of China. While Kennedy's
policies certainly played a crucial role, it is essential to acknowledge that broader contextual
factors were equally instrumental in shaping the failure to contain communism in South
Vietnam by 1963.
Kennedy's policies contributed in various ways to the failure to contain communism in South
Vietnam. For instance, his involvement in Vietnam in wanting to contain communism had often
caused cruel and awful treatment towards the SV people. This is best seen through the SHP (Jan
1962) which involved the forceable relocation of civilians into these horrible and awful
conditions in villages. By doing this Kennedy had wanted to ‘ferret out the hard-core
communists’ however in reality had increased the support for the communist regime through
the alienation of the southern Vietnam citizens. Other heinous policies implemented by
Kennedy could be seen through Agent Orange, which involved the usage of chemicals to
destroy ordinary and harmless peasants and submit them to moving to Diem controlled area.
These instances of Kennedy's policies in wanting to contain communism in awful and heinous
ways had a reverse course in actually causing resentment and hate towards Diem and the
people supporting Communism. Therefore, Kennedy's policies had mainly contributed to
containing communism in SV by 1963.
It wasn’t just his policies – Kennedy's ideological approach to Vietnam contributed to
Communism's growth in the South. For instance, Kennedy's fear of communism spreading
throughout SE Asia caused him to directly intervene in Asia like his predecessor Eisenhower and
fearing what happened with ‘the loss of China’ towards Truman's reputation he had to act
before allegations of his being ‘soft towards communism’ This can best be seen through the
military intervention of 1600 military ‘advisors’ as a response to contain the NLF and with 75%
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