Channels, Fall 2018

Channels • 2018 • Volume 3 • Number 1 Page 73 hesitation for any alliance with Communist groups, much less a communist nation. Additionally, many historians critical towards Truman forget the strides made by the Truman administration throughout the Pacific. His administration helped bring independence to Indonesia, Burma, and Ceylon, facts sadly overlooked due to the ultimate failure of his containment policy of Indochina. In the end, the Truman administration faced a nearly impossible situation in Vietnam. It could not afford to alienate the French by remaining “neutral” in Southeast Asia because France played too large of a role in European Recovery and communist containment. Thus, American involvement in Vietnam was established in order to solidify the cooperation of the French in European recovery. While the US sought to satisfy its other foreign policy objectives in Southeast Asia, Japan and Europe, a non-communist, friendly Vietnam played an essential role. The origins of American involvement in Vietnam must be understood in that context.