He believed that if one Southeast Asian nation fell to communism, more would follow.
The one that would unite the union
Catholic. Not only does the Pope reside in Italy and they are frequently chosen from Italy, but lots of French and Spanish art is heavily influenced by Catholic themes.
The US had many attempts at compromise with varying levels of sucess before the Civil War. However, when Lincoln was elected president (on the platform of stopping the expansion of slavery), the South lost hope and seceded.
There is always a solution other than war, however, in this case, war had been a looming possibility for quite some time, and compromise probably would've only pushed the war back a year or two.
Hope this helps :)
