The 1954 Indochina claim and the question of declaring war

Did Britain refuse an American request to declare war in Vietnam in 1954?

The claim is challenged as framed: France was fighting in Indochina, and assistance to French forces is distinct from the proposed declaration of war.

A comment characterizes Britain as refusing an American request for a declaration of war in Vietnam in 1954. The objection is that this places the claim in an unclear political framework, while French operations in Indochina were still under way. The reply asks whom such a declaration would have targeted. Sending forces to assist France would have been a different action from the declaration described in the comment. American assistance to the French therefore does not by itself establish the particular claim about Britain.