The French, being the great arbiters of civilization were there to make the Vietnamese more like them - more civilized. They were also there to plunder the natural resources, but this was not an up front issue. When the French needed help in subduing the Vietnamese, America was there, but not really there.
Early American involvement in Vietnam was cautious at best. They supplied the French with money and technology, but no real or obvious military assistance. America would remain a shadow factor for several years.
In 1954 the French are defeated at Dien Bien Phu and America is asked for further military aid, which it refuses to give. The French are essentially out of the game. North and South Vietnam are at war. North Vietnam is ruled by the Chinese and their communist leader, Ho Chi Minh. America was unwilling to help the French, but, With reluctant U.S. help, Ngo Dinh Diem becomes the new leader of South Vietnam and America has begun what will become the Vietnam War and also what will become a new relationship with the American press.
"This relationship developed in an environment that was set and strong well before many people in this country paid much attention to or cared about what was going on in an obscure corner of Southeast Asia."[1].
"That environment was determined in large part by the status of the two institutions. Both were paradoxes of certitude and ambiguity. The United States government, particularly the Presidency, was at once feeling its oats and feeling its way. The United States emerged from WW II as the globe's pre-eminent, charged-if only by itself- with restoring order and prosperity and protecting its own and its allies' interests against the supposedly ruthless and monolithic threat of communism. To counter this threat, to maintain its ability to do so, and to avoid the internal division caused both by the effort and possible failure, the government and particularly the presidency, Felt increasingly compelled to act secretly.
