Key Figures

North Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh (1890-1961) was Vietnamese communist and revolutionary leader who sought to free his nation from colonial influence. What led him to sway toward communism happened in 1919 when he led a peace conference in Paris about Vietnam independence and was denied. After that through 1920's-30's Minh spent time in Moscow studying communism and fleeing from French. He returned to Vietnam in 1944 taking charge in war against France and Japan.

Vo nguyen Giap (1911-2013) a Vietnamese military commander revered from his role in liberating Vietnam from French Colonial rule. He joined Viet Minh in 1945 and was appointed minister under Ho chi Minh. Giap was excellent in military tactics, his planning abilities led to the defeat of French Dien Bien Phu. Giap was also an important part of the Vietnam war operating NVA and Viet Cong operations.

South Vietnam

Bao Dai (1913-97) declared leadership over Vietnam a position that France had denied to Ho Chi Minh. He was nothing more than a puppet used by both France and Japan until August 1945 when he quit and left Vietnam for France. France appointed Dai as chief of state of French colonial regime and in 1954 he made Ngo Dinh Diem prime minister and president of South Vietnam. A year after Diem took control Dai was forced to quit his role as chief of state because Vietnam became republic.

Ngo Dinh Diem (1901-1963) was president and prime minister from 1954 till his murder and overthrow in 1963. He did not do much for South Vietnam until 1950 when influential Americans who admired him for his Christianity, nationalism, and anti-communism view decided to help him take a more active role. Diem had no desire to lose his power, he relied on family and catholic member to assist in running south Vietnam. They ran the country brutally and ineffectively. Those who supported Diem rule let him be till in 1963 they started persecuting Vietnam's Buddhist, so a CIA coup got rid of Diem and his family.

United States

Dwight D Eisenhower (1890-1969) was a republican and 34th president of the U.S that served two terms from 1953-1961. Eisenhower planned the successful D-day attack of 1944, he was anti-communist and pro-containment. Unlike many other presidents Eisenhower did not want to send in American troops he preferred to provide support to the French and when the French were defeated in 1954 he refused to sign Geneva Accords. Although he did push for Ngo Dinh Diem to become south Vietnamese president despite his non-democratic methods.

Lyndon B Johnson (1908-73) was the 36th president during this period after the assassination of president John F. Kennedy. In 1968 LBJ used the incident at Gulf Tonkin as an excuse to heavily bomb North Korea and send in more American troops. His military plan was well known for its failure costing thousands of U.S. Soldiers lives. Due to his failure LBJ decided not to run for re-election retiring from presidency in 1969.