Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson visited Vietnam in 1961 and met with Diem, calling him the Churchill of Southeast Asia. But Johnson also reported back to the president that in his opinion, the United States would have to either commit itself to further military actions or throw in the towel as far as Diem was concerned. Diem, in turn, asked Kennedy to commit an additional 100,000 American troops to Vietnam. Kennedy refused the request, but he did agree to provide assistance to train an additional 30,000 ARVN soldiers.

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The initial steps in expanding American involvement in Vietnam caused a rift inside the Kennedy administration. Deputy Undersecretary of State U. Alexis Johnson called for American combat troops. Johnson was supported by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who asked the president to commit 40,000 ground troops to deal with the Viet Cong. Other proponents of committing American forces included administration adviser William Bundy, who urged an early and hard hitting American role in the war; and General Maxwell Taylor, the president’s military aide and trusted adviser. Taylor traveled to Vietnam, where he held talks with Diem. Taylor then urged the commitment of 6,000 to 8,000 U.S. ground troops, but he also warned of possible casualties if they actually went into combat. At a news conference announcing the Taylor mission to Vietnam, the president called it an economic survey. Members of the press, however, wondered why the president’s chief military adviser was going to Vietnam to assess economic conditions.

Upon Taylor’s arrival in Vietnam, Diem presented him with a statement of national emergency, a call for American air support, and a request for a mutual defense treaty with the United States. Diem also asked for a flood relief program to help the people in the Mekong River delta who were suffering from the effects of torrential rains. Taylor did finally recommend some combat troops, including helicopter-borne units and tactical air support. He also urged approval for the flood relief effort. Taylor’s proposals were supported by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, by Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara, and by Deputy Defense Secretary Roswell Gilpatrick. Secretary of State Dean Rusk opposed them, balking at the thought of American forces fighting on the ground. Others opposed to committing U.S. forces included Ambassador W. Averell Harriman and Undersecretary of State Chester B. Bowles.

Of all Kennedy’s advisers who urged expanded American involvement in Vietnam, Walt Rostow, deputy to William Bundy, was the most forceful. In the spring of 1961 Rostow put before President Kennedy a detailed series of proposals concerning further American objectives in Vietnam. Rostow was an architect of the counterinsurgency program, through which the United States would use covert operations and irregular warfare to combat the Viet Cong. Among the initiatives recommended by Rostow were the trip to the region by the vice president, the selection of a backstop man in Washington to oversee Vietnam policy, an increase in the number of U.S. forces assigned to MAAG (Military Assis-tance Advisory Group–Vietnam), an increase in the number of Special Forces troops in Vietnam and specific steps to persuade Diem to broaden his regime. After studying Rostow’s report, Kennedy agreed to implement all of the recommendations except the backstop to oversee Vietnam policy. (According to the Pentagon Papers, the person who would have become the backstop was Air Force Brig. Gen. Edward Lansdale, who was attached to the CIA.)

Kennedy’s second major 1961 decision on Vietnam policy was the rejection of proposals to send large numbers of American combat troops to help fight the Viet Cong. The president told his advisers that he did not want to create a situation in which American forces would have to fight a major land war in Asia. One of the players in the Vietnam debate upon whom the president relied for advice was former General Douglas MacArthur. The old warrior warned the president against allowing American troops to become bogged down in such a land war.

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