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Eisenhower's "Domino Theory" Speech
In an attempt to rally congressional and public support for increased U.S. aid to the French, President Eisenhower gave a historic press conference on April 7, 1954. He noted the value of Vietnam and it's resources. He also stated hid "domino theory," saying that if Vietnam fell, the countries around it would also turn to communism, and continue to spread like dominos. -
Geneva Accords
The Geneva Conference was a conference that was intended to settle outstanding issues resulting from the Korean War and the First Indochina War and involved several nations. The Geneva Accords that dealt with the dismantling of French Indochina proved to have long-lasting repercussions, however. The crumbling of the French colonial empire in Southeast Asia led to the formation of North Vietnam, South Vietnam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, and the Kingdom of Laos. -
Geneva Accords
The Geneva Conference was a conference that was intended to settle outstanding issues resulting from the Korean War and the First Indochina War and involved several nations. It took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 26 April to 20 July 1954. The Geneva Accords caused the dismantling of the French colonial empire in Southeast Asia led to the formation of North Vietnam, South Vietnam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, and the Kingdom of Laos. -
Assassination of Diem
On 1 November 1963, Ngô Đình Diệm, the president of South Vietnam, was arrested and assassinated in a successful coup led by General Dương Văn Minh. The coup was the culmination of 9 years of autocratic and nepotistic family rule in the country. Discontent with the Diệm regime had been simmering below the surface and exploded with mass Buddhist protests against long standing religious discrimination after the government shooting of protesters who defied a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag. -
Assassination of Diem
On 1 November 1963, Ngo Dinh Diem, the president of South Vietnam, was arrested and assassinated in a successful coup led by General Duong Van Minh. The coup was the culmination of 9 years of autocratic and nepotistic family rule in the country. Discontent with the Diệm regime had been simmering below the surface and exploded with mass Buddhist protests against long standing religious discrimination after the government shooting of protesters who defied a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
It is of historic significance because it gave U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, to use military force in Southeast Asia. Specifically, the resolution authorized the president to do whatever necessary in order to assist "any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty." This included involving armed force. -
LBJ Orders First Troops to Vietnam
Two battalions of U.S. Marines waded ashore on the beaches at Danang. Those 3,500 soldiers were the first combat troops the United States had dispatched to South Vietnam to support the Saigon government in its effort to defeat an increasingly lethal Communist insurgency. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against the forces of the South Vietnamese and the US. It was a campaign of surprise attacks throughout South Vietnam. The purpose of the wide-scale offensive by the Hanoi Politburo was to trigger political instability, in a belief that mass armed assault on urban centers would trigger defections and rebellions. -
My Lai Massacre
The My Lai massacre was one of the most horrific incidents of violence committed during the Vietnam War. A company of American soldiers brutally killed most of the people in the village of My Lai. More than 500 people were slaughtered in the massacre, including young girls and women who were raped and mutilated before being killed. U.S. Army officers covered up the carnage for a year before it was reported in the American press, sparking international outrage. -
Nixon’s Vietnamization Policy
Vietnamization was a policy of the Richard Nixon administration to end U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War through a program to "expand, equip, and train South Vietnamese forces and assign to them an ever-increasing combat role, at the same time steadily reducing the number of U.S. combat troops". -
Nixon Sends Troops Into Cambodia
The Cambodian campaign was a brief series of military operations conducted in eastern Cambodia in 1970 by South Vietnam and the United States as an extension of the Vietnam War and the Cambodian Civil War. Thirteen major operations were conducted by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam between 29 April and 22 July and by U.S. forces between 1 May and 30 June 1970. -
Nixon sends troops into Cambodia
The Cambodian campaign was a brief series of military operations conducted in eastern Cambodia in 1970 by South Vietnam and the United States as an extension of the Vietnam War and the Cambodian Civil War. Thirteen major operations were conducted by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam between 29 April and 22 July and by U.S. forces between 1 May and 30 June 1970 -
Kent State Shooting
The Kent State shootings were the killing of four and wounding of nine other unarmed Kent State University students by the Ohio National Guard. The killings took place during a peace rally opposing the expanding involvement of the Vietnam War into Cambodia by United States military forces as well as protesting the National Guard presence on campus. The incident marked the first time that a student had been killed in an anti-war gathering in United States history. -
Hard Hat Riot
The Hard Hat Riot occurred on May 8, 1970, in New York City. It started around noon when around 400 construction workers and around 800 office workers attacked around 1,000 demonstrators affiliated with the student strike of 1970. The students were protesting the Kent State shootings and the Vietnam War, following the announcement by Richard Nixon of the US invasion of Cambodia. Some construction workers carried U.S. flags and chanted "USA, All the way", and "America, love it or leave it". -
Nixon’s Christmas Bombing
Following the breakdown of peace talks with North Vietnam just a few days earlier, a furious President Richard Nixon announces the beginning of a massive bombing campaign to break the stalemate.Linebacker II was the result. Beginning on December 18, American B-52s and fighter-bombers dropped over 20,000 tons of bombs on the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. For nearly two weeks, American bombers pounded North Vietnam. -
Nixon’s Christmas bombing
On December 13, peace talks between the United States and North Vietnam collapsed. Infuriated, Nixon ordered plans drawn up for retaliatory bombings of North Vietnam. Linebacker II was the result. Beginning on December 18, American B-52s and fighter-bombers dropped over 20,000 tons of bombs on the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. The United States lost 15 of its giant B-52s and 11 other aircraft during the attacks. North Vietnam claimed that over 1,600 civilians were killed. -
Paris Peace Accords
The Paris Peace Accords was a peace treaty signed to establish peace in Vietnam and end the Vietnam War. The treaty included the governments of North Vietnam, South Vietnam, the United States; and the South Vietnamese communists. US ground forces had been sidelined and gradually withdrawn to coastal regions and not take part in offensive operations for the next two years. Direct US military intervention was ended, and fighting between the three remaining powers stopped for less than a day. -
Paris Peace Accords
The Paris Peace Accords, was a peace treaty signed on January 27, 1973, to establish peace in Vietnam and end the Vietnam War. US ground forces had been sidelined and gradually withdrawn to coastal regions and not take part in offensive operations or much direct combat for the next two years. The Paris Agreement Treaty would remove all remaining US forces, including air and naval forces in exchange. Direct U.S. military intervention was ended, and fighting temporarily stopped for less than a day -
War Powers Act
The War Powers Resolution is a federal law intended to check the president's power to commit the United States to an armed conflict without the consent of congress. The resolution was adopted in the form of a congressional joint resolution. It provides that the president can send the armed forces into action abroad only by declaration of war by Congress, statutory authorization or in case of a national emergency caused by attack upon the US or its territories or possessions, or its armed forces -
War Powers Act
The War Powers Resolution is a federal law intended to check the president's power to commit the US to an armed conflict without the consent of congress. The resolution was adopted in the form of a congressional joint resolution. It provides that the president can send the armed forces into action abroad only by declaration of war by Congress, statutory authorization, or in case of a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces. -
Saigon Falls
The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the Viet Cong on 30 April 1975. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War. -
Saigon Falls
The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong on 30 April 1975. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period from the formal reunification of Vietnam into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.