President Military Crises

  • Eisenhower Sends Troops to Lebanon

    President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent U.S. Marines to Lebanon to help stabilize the government and prevent a civil war during Cold War tensions in the Middle East.
  • Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis

    President John F. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade around Cuba to force the Soviet Union to remove nuclear missiles, preventing a nuclear war.
  • Kennedy Increases Troops in Vietnam

    President John F. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade around Cuba to force the Soviet Union to remove nuclear missiles, preventing a nuclear war.
  • Johnson Escalates the Vietnam War

    After the Gulf of Tonkin incident, President Lyndon B. Johnson sent hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops to Vietnam to fight the communist North.
  • Nixon Expands War into Cambodia

    President Richard Nixon authorized secret bombing campaigns and a U.S. invasion of Cambodia to destroy North Vietnamese bases.
  • Ford and the Mayaguez Incident

    President Gerald Ford ordered Marines to rescue the SS Mayaguez, an American ship seized by Cambodian forces after the Vietnam War.
  • Carter’s Iran Hostage Rescue Attempt

    President Jimmy Carter ordered Operation Eagle Claw to rescue American hostages in Tehran, Iran, but the mission failed due to equipment problems.
  • Reagan Invades Grenada

    President Ronald Reagan sent U.S. troops to Grenada to overthrow a Marxist regime and protect American citizens during a political crisis.
  • Reagan Sends Marines to Lebanon

    Reagan deployed Marines as peacekeepers in Lebanon’s civil war; tragically, over 200 U.S. servicemen were killed in a 1983 bombing.