The Cold War loomed, creating a red scare that dominated the culture of the United States. Communism had a great effect on the United States and many other countries. The communist form of government expanded across much of Southeast Asia. This devastated the American economy and created a distraught and faithless nation. Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Nixon all felt the need to end communism in South Vietnam to bring peace to the nation. The Vietnam War did not begin until 1965, and after Truman and Eisenhower's years in office they still had a significant role in this war. The Vietnam War theme song began while President Truman was in office. Truman was a courageous man who fought against communism and agreed to assist the French in their attempt to end communist rule in Vietnam. This was critical to Truman because of the Soviet challenge to North Korea, which inflamed Cold War tensions. In 1954 the United States financed more than half the war for the French. The French failed to defeat the Vietnamese nationalist coalition force, losing capture of twelve thousand French soldiers in the Dienbienphu Valley. The French, with a sense of defeat, asked for help from U.S. military action. Eisenhower, the president who succeeded Truman, had a difficult choice to make, but he chose to avoid war at all costs. So the French surrendered to the Vietminh. After the defeat of the French, an international conference was held in Geneva to stop the fire and divide Vietnam. In 1956, elections would be held that would establish a government to unite the nation of Vietnam. Eisenhower avoided signing the Geneva Peace Accords; believed this would result in a domino theory and every co...... middle of paper ...... end North Vietnam won by invading the South and demanding the United States leave immediately. The Vietnam War was a long and difficult war that ended in defeat. Not only for America but for all people's lives were ruined. The soldiers who lost their lives because President Johnson lost all hope. America suffered internally economically from a war that never made progress toward an anti-communist revolution. Each president fought to end the communist movement in South Asia to dissolve the spread from country to country. After three presidents tried to solve this problem, Nixon finally had the plan that would make the United States not need the world police but rather a supporter of other countries. This is a serious idea that many people in America today have forgotten, especially the lessons of the Vietnam War.