I'd have to go with Nixon.
Kennedy's troop commitments were still small at the time of his death, but the assassination of the Ngo brothers made it harder for the US to withdraw.
The coup happened with US backing, a commitment that kept America stuck with the Saigon government for painful years to come. The Saigon government's already questionable legitimacy was destroyed. It ended up looking like just another colonial puppet regime from that point on.
Johnson did the worst job. Not wanting to disrupt his Great Society policies, he lapped up General Westmoreland's assurances that all was going well and hoped that sending ever more troops would make the problem go away.
I favor Nixon despite his notoriety. He actually cracked down on the Ho Chi Minh trail. Opening relations with China put real pressure on the North Vietnam government and the USSR.
He steadily reduced the presence of US troops in the country and finally concluded US involvement.
He inherited a nightmare situation and took an active approach where his predecessor had been passive.
Home 