President John F. Kennedy gave his final press conference on November 14th , 1963. What was different about this discussion with the press was a change in Vietnam policy. After the coup that saw the death of Ngo Diem it was clear that the policy with South Vietnam had to be adjusted. The Honolulu conference was proposed by Kennedy's administration to address the issues surrounding the instability and war in Vietnam. President Kennedy expressed he wanted Americans out, but did not want to abandon the conflict. This seems like a contradiction, because a military industrial complex would not allow such a policy. President Kennedy articulated that he wanted the South Vietnamese military powerful enough to fight the Viet Cong by itself. The desire to make South Vietnam democratic was not possible. To a degree it was more of a puppet state with military rulers. Some have theorized that the reason Kennedy was assassinated was because he wanted withdraw from Vietnam and an eventual peace with the Soviet Union. When American and South Vietnam officials met in Honolulu in 1966, policy had been dramatically altered. From that point onward, the war would be escalated. If President John F. Kennedy had lived, the US Military might not gotten trapped in a violent conflict.
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