Vietnam War

==== Battle of Dien Bien Phu ====
{{Main|Battle of Dien Bien Phu|Operation Vulture}}

During the [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu]] in 1954, U.S. [[Aircraft carrier|carriers]] sailed to the [[Gulf of Tonkin]] and the U.S. conducted reconnaissance flights. France and the United States also discussed the use of three [[tactical nuclear weapon]]s, although reports of how seriously this was considered and by whom are vague and contradictory.<ref name="Maclear">{{Cite book |last=Maclear |first=Michael |url=https://archive.org/details/tenthousanddaywa00mich/page/57 |title=The Ten Thousand Day War: Vietnam 1945–1975 |date=1981 |publisher=Thames |isbn=978-0-312-79094-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/tenthousanddaywa00mich/page/57 57]}}</ref><ref name=Hastings/>{{Rp|75}} According to then-Vice President [[Richard Nixon]], the Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up plans to use small tactical nuclear weapons to support the French.<ref name=Maclear/> Nixon, a so-called "[[War Hawk|hawk]]" on Vietnam, suggested that the United States might have to "put American boys in".<ref name=Tucker/>{{Rp|76}} President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] made American participation contingent on British support, but the British were opposed.<ref name=Tucker/>{{Rp|76}} Eisenhower, wary of involving the United States in a land war in Asia, decided against military intervention.<ref name=Hastings/>{{Rp|75–76}} Throughout the conflict, U.S. intelligence estimates remained skeptical of France's chance of success.<ref name="Gravel">{{Cite book |title=The Pentagon Papers (Gravel Edition), Volume 1 |pages=391–404}}</ref>

On 7 May 1954, the French garrison at Dien Bien Phu surrendered. The defeat marked the end of French military involvement in Indochina. At the [[Geneva Conference (1954)|Geneva Conference]], the French negotiated a ceasefire agreement with the Viet Minh, and independence was granted to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vietnam.vassar.edu/overview/doc2.html|title=The Final Declarations of the Geneva Conference July 21, 1954|work=The Wars for Viet Nam|publisher=[[Vassar College]]|access-date=20 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807062726/http://vietnam.vassar.edu/overview/doc2.html|archive-date=7 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Geneva Accords {{!}} history of Indochina {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Geneva-Accords |access-date=28 October 2022 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>