Vietnam

By emilycahoon4

  • Eisenhower

    President Eisenhower deploys the Military Assistance Advisory Group to train the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, marking the official beginning of American involvement in the war that was recognized by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. He invested huge sums of money and prestige in hoping to transform South Vietnam into Asia, when it was free.

  • Dien Bien Phu

    The battle was fought between the French and the Vietminh. They were lead to independence by the communist vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, who declared their independence from France. It consisted of a struggle of both forces for control of a small mountain outpost on the Vietnamese border near Laos. The Viet Minh victory in this battle effectively ended the eight-year-old war.

  • Geneva Accords

    It stated that Vietnam would become an independent nation, formally ending 75 years of French colonialism, former French colonies Cambodia and Laos would be independent and Vietnam would be temporarily divided for a period of two years. It ended up causing Vietnam to divide into two countries at the 17th parallel.

  • Kennedy

    Kennedy expanded military aid to the government of President Ngô Đình Diệm, increased the number of U.S. military advisors in South Vietnam, and reduced the pressure on Diệm during the Eisenhower Administration about him reforming his government and broadening his political base. His policies led to implementing the Bay of Pigs invasion and the escalation of the Vietnam War.

  • Johnson

    Johnson was committed to containment policy, the U.S. blocking Communist expansion in Vietnam, but he lacked Kennedy's knowledge and enthusiasm for foreign policy, and prioritized domestic reforms over major initiatives in foreign affairs. Johnson escalated American involvement in the Vietnam War. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, that granted Johnson the power to use military force in Southeast Asia without having to ask for an official declaration of war.

  • Gulf of Tonkin

    Gulf of Tonkin's incident was were two unprovoked attacks by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on the destroyers Maddox and Turner Joy of the U.S. Seventh Fleet and that led to the Gulf of Tonkin. This ended up making Congress pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

  • Tonkin Resolution

    It authorized President Johnson to take any measures he believed necessary to retaliate and promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia. The War Powers Resolution came as a direct reaction to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution because Congress wanted to avoid another military conflict where they had little input.

  • Fulbright Commission

    Set of U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on Vietnam. The hearings had testimony and debate from several members of Congress, and from representatives of interested pro-war and anti-war organizations.

  • Tet Offensive

    The Tet Offensive was a coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on 100+ cities and outposts in South Vietnam. It was an attempt to instigate rebellion among the South Vietnamese population and encourage the US to scale back its involvement in the Vietnam War. It weaked U.S. public support for the Vietnam War.

  • Vietnamization

    A policy under 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 an increasing combat role, while steadily reducing the number of U.S. combat troops. It transferred all military responsibilities to South Vietnam. The process was deeply flawed from the beginning.

  • My Lai Massacre

    The My Lai massacre was one of the most horrific incidents of violence committed against unarmed civilians during the Vietnam War. A company of American soldiers brutally killed most of the people (women, children and old men) because they were shelled by U.S. artillery. The reason for it was intended to clear a landing area for Charlie Company's helicopters.

  • Invasion of Cambodia

    Cambodian neutrality and military weakness made its territory a safe zone where Vietnam forces could establish bases for operations over the border. It sought to shore up the South Vietnamese government by eliminating the cross-border threat. The US Air Force again launched a bombing campaign against them, claiming it saved Cambodia from an otherwise inevitable communist take-over and that the capital could have fallen in a matter of weeks.

  • Pentagon Papers

    They are the United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political and military involvement in Vietnam. They revealed that the U.S. had secretly enlarged the range of actions in the Vietnam War with the bombings of nearby Cambodia and Laos, coastal raids on North Vietnam, and Marine Corps attacks.

  • Christmas Bombings

    When North Vietnam walked out on peace talks, Nixon employed jugular diplomacy by running massive bombing raids over NV, primarily Hanoi. Over the course of 12 days the US unleashed more 100,000 bombs. The Americans bombed the north Vietnamese on Christmas. American Congress as well as foreign leaders call for an end to the war.

  • Daniel Ellsberg

    He was charged under the Espionage Act along with other charges of theft and conspiracy, carrying a total maximum sentence of 115 years. He was the one who released the Pentagon Papers hoping it would end the war.

  • Paris Peace Conference/Accords

    Paris Peace Accords effectively removed the U.S. from the conflict in Vietnam. Nixon had secretly promised Thiệu that he would use airpower to support the South Vietnamese government it needed. It ended the war and brought peace.

  • War Powers Act

    A federal law intended to check the U.S. president's power to commit the US to an armed conflict without the consent of Congress. It was passed in the aftermath of the Vietnam War to address concerns and to provide a set of procedures for both the President and Congress to follow in situations where the introduction of U.S. forces abroad could lead to their involvement in armed conflict.

  • Ford

    He continued Richard Nixon's policies regarding detente with both the Soviet Union and China. He was president for the final stages of the war. He signed Executive Order 11850, a renunciation of certain uses in war of chemical herbicides and riot control agents. It restricts the use of herbicides, and riot control agents, including tear gas.

  • Fall of Saigon

    Battle where North Vietnam captured capital of South Vietnam and named it Ho Chi Mihn City. Marked the end of the Vietnam War when North Vietnamese invaded South Vietnam, and forced all Americans left to flee in disarray as the capitol was taken.

  • Nixon

    He started the idea and process of Vietnamization, and began the bombing of Cambodia. He wanted to intimidate North Vietnam by showing that he was a dangerous leader capable of anything. He seeked advice from high administration officials but delayed any quick response that could be explicitly linked to the provocation.