The Vietnam era policies of Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy differed substantially because they occurred at decidedly different moments in the evolution of the conflict. Eisenhower, who was President of the United States in the 1950's, inherited the conflict after the defeat of the French in what was called Indochina in 1954. Eisenhower provided military aid to the French but avoided military involvement. An international conference was convened in Geneva. A cease-fire agreement and partition of the country into Northern and Southern Vietnam was achieved. This was a temporary arrangement and a vote was scheduled for reunification. Convinced that the reunification of the country could lead to Communist control throughout, the U.S. backed leader resisted holding elections for this purpose. The U.S. in turn gave more than 1 billion in aid between 1955 and 1961. This aid failed to stabilize South Vietnam. Utilized the domino theory, the Cold War ideology that if one country fell to Communism then others would follow, President Kennedy tripled U.S. support. He also tripled the number of military advisers and the number swelled to sixteen thousand. Protests expanded against the South Vietnamese government led by Buddhist priests and students. The policies of Eisenhower and Kennedy laid the groundwork for the subsequent escalation of the Vietnam War under Lyndon Baines Johnson.
