Why did the U.S get involved in Vietnam in the 1950's and 1960's ?

The U.S involvement was first favoured by the U.S public, but gradually public opinion began to sway from when the first troops were sent in, in 1965 to when it ended in 1974. The U.S government also favoured the public's first opinion. This was mainly due to during the 1950's, Americans saw Communism as a huge threat to their way of life, a product of this was the 'McCarthy witch hunts' in which there …

…elections. The main reason the U.S had gotten involved in Vietnam during the 50's and 60's was due to the fear of communism, if south Vietnam had become communist, the U.S feared it could spread down through all the S.E Asian countries until it reached the likes of Australia and Europe, and then the rest of the world, which would have greatly threatened the U.S and their Capitalist way of life.