Why The Vietnam War?: Nuclear Bombs and Nation Building in Southeast Asia, 1945-1961

Why did the Vietnam War begin? When most Americans today think of the Vietnam War they think of the period of time between the years surrounding 1966 to 1969, because that is when most American soldiers actually went to Vietnam so it persists in the collective memory of their culture. It is the period portrayed the most in movies about the war and documentaries too even though in reality the conflict over Vietnam actually began in 1945 when the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam was f...