The four-day whirlwind trip was launched on September 6 , 1963 , the same day as a National Security Council ( NSC ) meeting , and came in the wake of increasingly strained relations between the United States and South Vietnam . Civil unrest gripped South Vietnam as Buddhist demonstrations against the religious discrimination of President Ngô Đình Diệm 's Catholic regime escalated . Following the raids on Buddhist pagodas on August 21 that left a death toll ranging up to a few hundred , the US authorized investigations into a possible coup through a cable to US Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr . In their submissions to the NSC , Krulak presented an optimistic report on the progress of the war , while Mendenhall presented a bleak picture of military failure and public discontent . Krulak disregarded the popular support for the Viet Cong , feeling that the Vietnamese soldiers ' efforts in the field would not be affected by the public 's unease with Diệm 's policies . Mendenhall focused on gauging the sentiment of urban Vietnamese and concluded that Diệm 's policies increased the possibility of religious civil war , and were causing the South Vietnamese to believe that life under the Viet Cong would improve the quality of their lives . The divergent reports led US President John F. Kennedy to ask his two advisers " You two did visit the same country , did n't you ? " The inconclusive report was the subject of bitter and personal debate among Kennedy 's senior advisers . Various courses of action towards Vietnam were discussed , such as fostering a regime change or taking a series of selective measures designed to cripple the influence of Ngô Đình Nhu , Diệm 's brother and chief political adviser . Nhu and his wife Madame Ngô Đình Nhu were seen as the major causes of the political problems in South Vietnam . The inconclusive result of Krulak and Mendenhall 's expedition resulted in a follow-up mission , the McNamara – Taylor mission
raids on Buddhist pagodas
Xá Lợi Pagoda raids
Krulak–Mendenhall mission