It was the Military-Industrial complex that Ike warned us about. They wanted JFK out because he retracted the move into Viet Nam with one of his first executive orders.
“They wanted JFK out because he retracted the move into Viet Nam with one of his first executive orders.”
A ridiculous claim. There were 685 American advisors in RSVN when Eisenhower left office. Kennedy had ramped up American military presence in RSVN to nearly 17,000 by the time that he was killed 2 1/2 years later.
Kennedy approved the coup against Diem in order to get him out of the way and gain more control of RSVN. My father and another Colonel named George Patton IV were tasked with evaluating whether Vietnam was suitable for American ground combat forces while Kennedy was still alive. They said it wasn’t. Somebody should have paid attention.