John F Kennedy (mar 1, 1954 – mar 1, 1963)

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Even though John Fitzgerald Kennedy only served as president for a short period of time, during that time the United States engagement in Vietnam significantly increased. President Kennedy expanded the flow of financial and military aid to the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), as well as the number of American military advisers assisting in South Vietnamese military training. Kennedy was adamant that the U.S. needed to defend South Vietnam's democracy, sending senior aides and even Vice President Johnson to Saigon as a show of solidarity. However, a number of instances of domestic opposition to the Dim administration as well as Dim's corruption caused him to lose faith in the South Vietnamese president Ngô Quang Dim.

Kennedy implied support for a coup d'état supported by the CIA that was carried out by members of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). Just twenty days before President Kennedy was shot in Dallas on November 22, 1963, President Dim and his brother were killed. A junta led by the ARVN took over the vacant position of power in Vietnam, and it ruled the nation ineffectively until 1967.

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