The Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a very difficult and emotional time for many people. From the Vietnamese to the Americans, the Vietnam War was a tragedy. People said that the Vietnam War was the longest battle of the Cold War. It all started because the Vietnamese did not want to have their independence. They no longer wanted to be under the control of France. France did not want to abandon the country it had ruled for years. France was receiving supplies and goods from Vietnam, so it did not want to give it up and it fought to get it. Ho Chi Minh was the president of Vietnam, as he can be said to have controlled northern Vietnam. He wanted Vietnam to be a communist country similar to the Soviet Union. After Ho Chi Minh gained Vietnam's independence, the French began fighting to regain control of South Vietnam. so they went to war. They came to war with complete confidence. They eventually regained two major cities that they had previously lost. The French were not doing very well afterward, so they communicated with the United States. The United States joined because President Truman did not want to lose France as an ally, so he helped them by providing aid. Truman did not want to lose Vietnam to communism. France was losing the war, even though the United States supported it. Soon, they realized that the war was over for the French because the Vietnamese controlled too many countries in the South for them too to reconquer Vietnam. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union was trying to make other countries communist. “President Eisenhower felt that if the United States lost Vietnam to communism, it would not be able to obtain the resources it needed in any part of Southeast Asia.” (Gary B) . Nash “American Odyssey” p.770). Eisen...... middle of paper ......bibliographyBonds, Ray. The Vietnam War: The Illustrated History of the Conflict in Southeast Asia. London: Salamander, 1983. Print. Isserman, Maurice. The Vietnam War. New York: Facts on File, 1992. Print.Nash, Gary B. “23.” American Odyssey: The United States in the Twentieth Century. New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 1999. 768-801. Print. “China and the Soviet Union recognize the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. » 2014. The History Channel website. March 30, 2014, 12:12 p.m. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/china-and-soviet-union-recognize-democratic-republic-of-vietnampicture quotes: America protests against war. 2013. NpSzczepanski, Kallie. The Vietnam War (American War). NdNpBrowne, Malcolm. Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk self-immolating. 1963. NpPulitzer, Nick Ut. Trang Bang after a napalm attack. 1972. N.P..