-
1950
U.S Military helps the French. By 1954, the United States had supplied 300,000 small arms and spent US$1 billion in support of the French military -
1954
President Eisenhower proposes dominoe theory. The domino theory was a theory prominent from the 1950s to the 1980s, that speculated that if one state in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect. -
1954
Geneva Accords. The Geneva Conference (April 26 – July 20, 1954[1]) was a conference which took place in Geneva, Switzerland, whose purpose was to attempt to find a way to settle outstanding issues on the Korean peninsula and discuss the possibility of restoring peace in Indochina. -
1956
French leave Vietnam. Between 1953 and 1956, the North Vietnamese government instituted various agrarian reforms. -
1960
Kennedy is elected president. In the 1960 U.S. presidential election, Senator John F. Kennedy defeated sitting Vice President Richard Nixon. Kennedy made the ambitious pledge to "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty." -
1963
Diem and Kennedy assasinated.
-Kennedy was fatally shot by a sniper while traveling with his wife Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and Connally's wife Nellie, in a presidential motorcade.
-The arrest and assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm, the president of South Vietnam in November 1963. -
1963
Johnson becomes president after Kennedy's assasination. Kennedy's death marked the fourth successful assassination of an American President, and elevated Lyndon B. Johnson to the White House. -
1965
First American combat troops arrive in Vietnam. U.S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965. -
1968
My Lai Massacre. It was the Vietnam War mass killing of between 347 and 504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968. It was committed by U.S. Army soldiers from the Company C -
1968
Nixon elected president. When Nixon took office, about 300 American soldiers were dying each week in Vietnam. -
1969
Nixon announces Vietnamization. The United States began drastically reducing their troop support in South Vietnam during the final years of Vietnamization. Many U.S. troops were removed from the region, and on 5 March 1971, the United States returned the 5th Special Forces Group, which was the first American unit deployed to South Vietnam. -
1973
End of draft announced. Approximately 320,000 South Korean soldiers were sent to Vietnam, Each serving a one-year tour of duty. Maximum troop levels peaked at 50,000 in 1968, however all were withdrawn by 1973. -
1973
Last American troops leave Vietnam. On 29 March 1973, the last American combat troops left Vietnam. Their departure was part of the Paris Peace Accords, which the United States had signed with North and South Vietnam. -
1974
Nixon resigns. Nixon resigned due to watergate scandal. -
1974
Ford becomes president. Ford became the first and to date only person to have served as both Vice President and President of the United States without being elected by the Electoral College. -
1975
Remaining Americans evacuate Vietnam. In the early morning hours of 30 April, the last U.S. Marines evacuated the embassy by helicopter, as civilians swamped the perimeter and poured into the grounds. Many of them had been employed by the Americans and were left to their fate.
