What did Eisenhower's Vietnam policy consist of?

President Eisenhower was more than against contributing in anyway towards the First Indochina War. Overtime however, Eisenhower switched gears and initiated the first of many U.S. efforts to support the South Vietnamese, eventually laying the groundwork for the Vietnam War. read more

Eisenhower boxed in U.S. policy on Vietnam by creating SEATO and blindly supporting the corrupt and unpopular government in Saigon . Ironically, Eisenhower allowed the military-industrial complex to flourish in the 1960s because the conflict had taken on a life of its own. read more

President Eisenhower often dominated the discussions, but Dulles remained his most influential foreign policy adviser. Dulles was a staunch anti-communist. For this Secretary of State there was no grey area—nations were either part of the “Free World” or part of the Soviet bloc; he had little time for neutralism or non-alignment. read more