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The year 1961 saw a new American president, John F. Kennedy, attempt to cope with a deteriorating military and political situation in South Vietnam.The Viet Cong (VC) with assistance from North Vietnam made substantial gains in controlling much of the rural population of South Vietnam.
National Security Action Memorandum No. 263 was approved by President Kennedy on 11 October. NSAM 263 accepted the military recommendations of McNamara and Taylor, as follows: (1) changes to be accomplished by the government of South Vietnam to improve its military performance; (2) a training program for Vietnamese "so that essential functions can be carried out by Vietnamese by the end of 1965.
In 1961, the new administration of President John F. Kennedy took a new approach to aiding anti-communist forces in Vietnam which differed from the administrations of Presidents Truman and Eisenhower, who felt the neighboring country Laos was the "cork in the bottle" in combating the threat of Communism in southeast Asia. [29]
The situation in South Vietnam continued to deteriorate with corruption rife throughout the Diem government and the ARVN unable to effectively combat the Viet Cong. In 1961, the newly elected Kennedy Administration promised more aid and additional money, weapons, and supplies were sent with little effect.
In South Vietnam, the coup was referred to as Cách mạng 1-11-63 ("1 November 1963 Revolution"). [3] The Kennedy administration had been aware of the coup planning, [4] but Cable 243 from the United States Department of State to U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. stated that it was U.S. policy not to try to stop it. [5]
January 30 - President of the United States John F. Kennedy approved a $41 million counterinsurgency plan in North Vietnam, drawn up for President Eisenhower by General Edward Lansdale, to help the government of South Vietnam resist communist aggression. Designed to add 52,000 men to that nation's army and civil guards, the plan included ...
The reports were given to Marine Corps general Victor Krulak, who was preparing to visit South Vietnam as part of a high-level U.S. military mission to assess progress in the war. [30]: 132 31 December. North Vietnam infiltrated 12,850 persons into South Vietnam, mostly southern communists who had migrated to North Vietnam in 1954–1955.
There were changes in outlook. Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara (in office 1961–68) told President John F. Kennedy (in office 1961–63) in 1961 that it was "absurd to think that a nation of 20 million people can be subverted by 15–20 thousand active guerrillas if the government and the people of that country do not wish to be subverted."