Minister Harold Holt in the Oval office in 1963.

ead, by using limited military action to fight the Communist forces led by Ho Chi Minh.[79] Kennedy continued policies providing political, economic, and military support for the South Vietnamese government.[79] Late in 1961, the Viet Cong began assuming a predominant presence, initially seizing the provincial capital of Phuoc Vinh.[80] Kennedy increased the number of helicopters, military advisors and undeclared U.S. Special Forces in the area, but he was still reluctant to order a full scale deployment of troops.[81][82] Kennedy formally authorized escalated involvement when he signed the "National Security Action Memorandum - Subversive Insurgency (War of Liberation)" in early 1962.[83] Secretary of State, Dean Rusk voiced strong support for U.S. involvement as illustrated in his emphatic in the Fall of 1962 that, "...neutralism [in South Vietnam] is not neutralism at all; it's tantamount to surrender."[84] "Operation Ranch Hand", a broad scale aerial defoliation effort began on the roadsides in South Vietnam.[85][86]


Kennedy with (then) future Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt in the Oval office in 1963.
In April 1963, Kennedy expressed his assessment of

Dentists in Preston
undergraduate