After the First Indochina War and after the Geneva Convention decided to split Vietnam into two parts. Along with France, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan, the United States created SEATO or Southeast Asia Treaty Organization. The United states used this to support Ngo Dinh Diem in his decisions. When President John F. Kennedy was elected he took a more peaceful approach in preventing the spread of communism to southern Vietnam. Ngo Dinh Diem was assassinated because he lost hold of the southern Vietnamese people, and three weeks later on November 22, 1963 President John F. Kennedy was also assassinated. Before his death President Kennedy increased the amount of U.S. advisers in South Vietnam thinking it would help improve the strength of their government. But when President Lyndon B. Johnson thought that the only solution was to increase the United States presence in Vietnam. When President Johnson stationed two destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin they were both attacked by North Vietnamese patrol boats. After this incident President Johnson went to Congress and asked for permission to defend the southern Vietnamese people and Congress agreed with only two votes opposing his plan. This provided President Johnson with justification to further escalate the conflict in Vietnam. While President Johnson increased U.S. Troop presence in Vietnam to fight the Viet Cong, he also believed that more bombing raids would weaken the north he launched Operation Rolling Thunder. Operation Rolling Thunder was a Bombing campaign that started on February 13, 1965 and it lasted until the spring of 1967.