John F. Kennedy’s administration and the use of herbicides in South Vietnam in 1961

Abstract

In 1961, to fight the insurgent liberation army in the rural areas in Southern Vietnam, the President John F. Kennedy administration approved the recommendation of the Department of Defense and the State Department on the use of herbicides in Operation Ranch Hand. To conceal public opinion, the US Department of Defense used the code name Ranch Hand for the operation and announced that the used chemicals were common herbicides and defoliants. The claimed goal was to clear the enemy's shelters and camps and reduce casualties for US and allied troops. In addition, these substances were said to be not toxic to organisms and have no significant effect on human health. However, the current studies have proved that the chemicals used by the US in Vietnam are extremely toxic to both humans and the environment. In fact, the operation of chemical war launched by the US is the largest scale, and longest duration in modern warfare and caused the most catastrophic consequences in human history.