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Pentagon Papers
Top secret Department of Defense study of U.S. involvement in Vietnam from 1945-1967. The information was leaked in 1971 when Daniel Ellsberg, who worked on the study, photocopied the reports and gave the copy to the New York Times. Deciding that the American public had the right to know the information contained in these papers. Confirmed many suspicions about the role of government in building up conflict. -
Dwight Eisenhower
Served presidential term from 1953-1961. Deploys the Military Assistance Advisory Group to train the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. This marks the official beginning of American involvement in the war as recognized by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
A major battle of the first Indochina war in which the French fought against the Viet Minh communists. The French wanted to reclaim Vietnam as one of their colonies, while the Vietnamese wanted their independence. Although the defeat brought an end to French colonial efforts in Indochina, the United States soon stepped up, increasing military aid to South Vietnam and sending the first U.S. military advisers to the country in 1959. -
Geneva Accords
Discussion among several nations on issues involving Vietnam and other issues in Asia. The French agreed to withdraw their troops from northern Vietnam. Vietnam would be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel, pending elections within two years to choose a president and reunite the country. During that two-year period, no foreign troops could enter Vietnam. -
John F. Kennedy
Served presidential term from 1961-1963. Approves sending 400 Special Forces troops and 100 other U.S. military advisers to South Vietnam. On the same day, he orders the start of clandestine warfare against North Vietnam to be conducted by South Vietnamese agents under the direction and training of the CIA and U.S. Special Forces troops. -
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
An international confrontation that led to the United States engaging more directly in the Vietnam War. It involved either one or two separate confrontations involving North Vietnam and the United States in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Authorizes President Johnson to take any measures he believed were necessary to retaliate and to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia. -
Tet Offensive
A series of surprise attacks by the Vietcong (rebel forces sponsored by North Vietnam) and North Vietnamese forces, on scores of cities, towns, and hamlets throughout South Vietnam. The American people had been told months early that the war was going to end soon, it was successful, and troops could withdraw soon. Now they were questioning whether the military would prevail over the communist threat or not. Support for the Vietnam war began to decline significantly. -
My Lai Massacre
Mass murder of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians by U.S. troops in Sơn Tịnh District, South Vietnam. More than 500 people were slaughtered in the My Lai massacre, including young girls and women who were raped and mutilated before being killed. -
Vietnamization
The U.S. policy of withdrawing its troops and transferring the responsibility and direction of the war effort to the government of South Vietnam. A policy 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." -
Lyndon B. Johnson
Served presidential term from 1963-1969. Escalated American involvement in the Vietnam War. In 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted Johnson the power to use military force in Southeast Asia without having to ask for an official declaration of war. By 1968, the United States had 548,000 troops in Vietnam and had already lost 30,000 Americans there. -
Invasion of Cambodia
President Nixon, at a news conference, defends the U.S. troop movement into Cambodia, saying the operation would provide six to eight months of time for training South Vietnamese forces and thus would shorten the war for Americans. -
Daniel Ellsburg
Leaks information to the American public, sends Pentagon Papers to the New York Times. -
Fulbright Commission
A series of public hearings to question a range of experts on the progress of the Vietnam War. -
Christmas Bombing
President 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. -
War Powers Act
A congressional resolution designed to limit the U.S. president’s ability to initiate or escalate military actions abroad. Requires that presidents notify Congress after deploying the armed forces and limits how long units can remain engaged without congressional approval. Its goal was to avoid lengthy war like Vietnam. -
Paris Peace Conference/Accords
Agreement to end the war in Vietnam and restore peace in Vietnam. The settlement included a cease-fire throughout Vietnam. It addition, the United States agreed to the withdrawal of all U.S. troops and advisers (about 23,700) and the dismantling of all U.S. bases within 60 days. In return, the North Vietnamese agreed to release all U.S. and other prisoners of war. -
Richard Nixon
Served presidential term from 1969-1974. President Nixon believed his Vietnamization strategy, which involved building up South Vietnam's armed forces and withdrawing U.S. troops, would prepare the South Vietnamese to act in their own defense against a North Vietnamese takeover and allow the United States to leave Vietnam with its honor intact. -
Fall of Saigon
The capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong on 30 April 1975. The defeat ended America's innocence about its role in the world and shattered the once-cherished belief that the United States always did the right thing internationally. As a practical matter, the defeat undermined for years America's belief in its own power. -
Gerald Ford
Served presidential term from 1974-1977. Says the Vietnam War is finished as far as America is concerned. “Today, Americans can regain the sense of pride that existed before Vietnam. But it cannot be achieved by re-fighting a war.” This was devastating news to the South Vietnamese, who were desperately pleading for U.S. support as the North Vietnamese surrounded Saigon for the final assault on the capital city.
