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Geneva Accords
An attempt to end 8 years of fighting between France and Vietnam. It temporarily divided Vietnam into North and South along the 17th parallel. -
Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
35th President of the U.S. John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in an open-top convertible in Dallas, Texas. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Congress approved President Johnson's resolution which granted him broad military powers in Vietnam. -
U.S. Involvement Increases
President Johnson began dispatching tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers to fight in Vietnam. By the end of 1965, the U.S. government sent more than 180,000 Americans to Vietnam. -
The Great Society Suffers
President Johnson asked for a tax increase to help fund the war and to keep inflation in check. Congress agreed only after demanding and receiving a $6 billion reduction in funding for Great Society programs. -
Tet Offensive
North Vietnamese surprise attack during the lunar new ear festivities known as Tet. It was a crucial turning point in the war. -
My Lai Massacre
U.S. platoon under the command of Lieutenant William Calley, Jr. massacred innocent civilians in the small village of My Lai in northern South Vietnam while searching for Vietcong rebels. -
Dr. Martin Luther King Assassinated
Violence erupted in more than 100 cities as enraged followers of Dr. King, slain civil rights leader, burned buildings and destroyed neighborhoods. -
Vietnamization
President Nixon meets South Vietnam's President Nguyen Van Thieu at Midway Island and informs him U.S. troop levels are going to be sharply reduced. Nixon announces "Vietnamization" of the war to reduce U.S. troops and transfer military responsibility to South Vietnam. -
1st U.S. Troop Withdrawal
The very first U.S. troop withdrawal occurs as 800 men from the 9th Infantry Division are sent home. The phased troop withdrawal will occur in 14 stages from July 1969 through November 1972. -
Invasion of Cambodia
President Nixon announced that U.S. troops had invaded Cambodia to clear out North Vietnamese and Vietcong supply centers. -
Violence at Kent State University Campus
At Kent State University in Ohio, National Guardsmen shoot and kill four student protesters and wound nine after a massive student protest over the war. -
The Pentagon Papers
The New York Times begins publication of the "Pentagon Papers," a secret Defense Department archive of the paperwork that revealed among other things that the government had drawn up plans for entering the war even as President Johnson promised he would not send American troops to Vietnam. -
War Powers Act
U.S. Congress passed the War Powers Act which stipulated that a president must inform Congress within 48 hours of sending forces into a hostile area without a declaration of war. -
Fall of Saigon
Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, fell to North Vietnamese forces and effectively marked the end of the Vietnam War.