The conflict in Vietnam for the United States began when President Dwight D. Eisenhower followed the domino theory and sent military advisors to South Vietnam to prevent the movement communist to take place in the South. Vietnam. The Vietnamese conflict pitted the Communists and the United States against each other. North Vietnam was led by Ho Chi Minh, and Ho Chi Minh led the Viet Cong, a guerrilla group intended to help spread communism. The United States was supportive of South Vietnam because it wanted them to maintain their government rather than fall into the domino theory of communism. After Eisenhower's term ended, John F. Kennedy became president and took control of the situation in Vietnam, but on November 22, 1963, Kennedy was assassinated. Lyndon B. Johnson took over as president and Vietnam's problems were left to its own devices. In 1963, the Gulf of Tonkin Incident occurred in which the USS Maddox was attacked by North Vietnamese warships on August 2, 1964. Two days later, an even more controversial attack took place where it was reported that another ship had been attacked again, but this was later proven to be false. Johnson used these events to gain congressional approval to enter Vietnam. However, the Gulf of Tonkin Incident was cast into doubt, making the war arguably moot immediately after the incident. Many soldiers were killed in Vietnam and the United States ultimately lost the war and failed to achieve its goal of stopping communism. Despite the magnitude of the conflict in Vietnam that needed to be resolved, escalating the war was Johnson's bad idea, because the war's many consequences for the United States outweighed the potential spread of communism. Once Lyndon B. Johnson became president, he I had to do...... middle of paper ......e both worked, the American economy suffered because spending clearly increased. “President Lyndon. Johnson's decision to simultaneously finance a major war and the Great Society, without significant tax increases, triggered runaway double-digit inflation and a growing federal debt that ravaged the American economy and eroded America's standard of living. late 1960s through 1990s." Oxford Companion 766). It is impossible to avoid economic problems due to large increases in spending without raising taxes. Johnson's poor decision not to raise taxes on a war that cost about $167 was not smart (Oxford). If Johnson focused on one program or another, the monetary problems wouldn't be so great, but he decided to continue spending on the war and on his programs that put the United States in another conflict because of war..