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Geneva Accords
In July 1954, the Geneva Agreements were signed. As part of the agreement, the French agreed to withdraw their troops from the Northern Vietnam. Vietnam would be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel, pending elections within two years to choose a president and reunite the country.
The Geneva Accords brought an end to the First Indochina War and marked the end of French influence in Southeast Asia. It also helped lay the groundwork for the Vietnam War. -
Assassination of Diem
Diem's heavy-handed tactics against the Vietcong deepened his government's unpopularity, and his brutal treatment of the opposition to his regime alienated the South Vietnamese populace, notably Buddhists. In 1963 he was murdered during a coup d'état by some of his generals.
The death of Diem led to political chaos in the nation. From this point on, the United States moved step by step to become more directly and heavily involved in the fight against the communist rebels. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution authorized President Lyndon Johnson to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression” by the communist government of North Vietnam. It expanded President's role in war affairs. -
LBJ ordered 1st troops to Vietnam
Under the authority of President Lyndon B. Johnson, the United States first deployed troops to Vietnam in 1965 in response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident of August 2 and 4, 1964. That escalated the US involvement in the Vietnam War and changed the nature of the war to an international conflict. -
Nixon’s Vietnamization policy
Vietnamization was a policy of the President Nixon administration to end U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War through a strategy that aimed to reduce American involvement in the Vietnam War by transferring all military responsibilities to South Vietnam. President Nixon believed his Vietnamization strategy 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. But it failed. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam. It was an attempt to foment rebellion among the South Vietnamese population and encourage the United States to scale back its involvement in the Vietnam War.
The Tet Offensive weakened U.S. public support for the war in Vietnam. It was seen as a loss and turned Americans towards an anti-war position. Tet Offensive was a turning point in the Vietnam War. -
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, including women, children, and old men, in the village of My Lai on March 16, 1968.
The massacre increased domestic opposition to the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War. The main concern of My Lai was the brutality seen. -
Nixon becomes President
Richard Nixon was elected the 37th President of the United States after previously serving as a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator from California. Nixon's victory marked the start of a period of Republican dominance in presidential elections. He ended the US fighting in Vietnam and improving international relations with the U.S.S.R. and China. He became the only President to ever resign the office, after the Watergate scandal. He left people with distrust towards the government. -
Nixon ordered troops to Cambodia
President Nixon ordered U.S. ground troops to invade Cambodia in April 1970. With resentment over the conflict in Vietnam, this felt like a final straw. The news unleashed waves of criticism from many who felt the president had abused his powers by side-stepping Congress. By November 1973, the criticism had culminated in the passage of the War Powers Act. Passed over Nixon’s veto, it limited the scope of the Commander-in-Chief’s ability to declare war without congressional approval. -
Hard Hat Riot
200 union workers, mostly construction workers attacked the anti-Vietnam War student protesters in lower Manhattan, NYC, following the April 30 announcement by President Richard Nixon of the U.S. invasion of neutral Cambodia. The long-term significance of the event was that it was the 1st public manifestation of the alienation of blue-collar workers from their traditional allegiance to the Democratic Party and their movement into the Republican Party, beginning with Nixon. -
Nixon goes to China
President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China was an important strategic and diplomatic overture that marked the culmination of the Nixon administration's resumption of harmonious relations between the United States and mainland China after years of diplomatic isolation. It also was meant to lower the morale of the North Vietnamese. -
Nixon’s Christmas bombing
On December 13, peace talks between the United States and North Vietnam collapsed. President Nixon ordered bombings of North Vietnam. Beginning on December 18, the US dropped over 20,000 tons of bombs on the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. The bombings continued until December 29, at which time the North Vietnamese agreed to resume the talks. A few weeks later, the final Paris Peace Treaty was signed and the Vietnam War came to a close, ending the U.S. role in the conflict. -
Paris Peace Accords
The Paris Peace Accords officially titled the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam. It was a peace treaty signed on January 27, 1973, to establish peace in Vietnam, and to end the Vietnam War and the US involvement in it. North Vietnam refused to sign the treaty until U.S. troops left South Vietnam. Later, an uprising in the south brought a communist government to power. -
Nixon Resigns
President Nixon resigned from office on August 9, 1974. Nixon's resignation was the culmination of what he referred to in his speech as the "long and difficult period of Watergate", a 1970s federal political scandal. He is the only U.S. president to have resigned from office. On August 9, 1974, Nixon's successor, Gerald Ford, took the role of the presidency, leaving the people with distrust towards the government and with a president they didn't choose, which affected future politics. -
Saigon Falls
The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon, was 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 South Vietnamese forces had collapsed under the rapid advancement of the North Vietnamese. The Fall of Saigon was a very important event because it marked not only the end of the Vietnam War but the beginning of the formal reunification of Vietnam under Communist Rule.