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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 northern Vietnam. Vietnam would be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel. The Geneva Accords were an attempt to end 8 years of fighting between France and Vietnam. They did that, but they also set the stage for the American phase of fighting in Southeast Asia -
Assassination of Diem
South Vietnam's President Diem initially provided inspiring leadership but later became dictatorial when pressed by the Vietcong assault against his government. He overthrown in a military coup that took place with the tacit approval of the United States. Diem was killed during the coup, despite assurances that he would not be. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
On August 7, 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing 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. This increased the United States' involvement in the Vietnam, which was ill-viewed by many citizens. -
LBJ Orders 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 1964. This ultimately resulted in a decade-long war against North Vietnam and communism. -
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—in the village of My Lai on March 16, 1968. Favor of the Vietnam war dropped drastically. -
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 US to scale back its involvement in the Vietnam War. The Tet Offensive played an important role in weakening U.S. public support for the war in Vietnam. -
Nixon becomes President
The presidency of Richard Nixon began at noon EST on January 20, 1969, when Richard Nixon was inaugurated as 37th President of the United States, and ended on August 9, 1974, when he resigned in the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office, the only U.S. president ever to do so. -
Hard Hat Riot
Protesting students at City College met resistance from a small group of construction workers, some of whom self-identified themselves as Vietnam veterans. Two days later, hundreds of local students reiterated their commitment to ending the war. Then, chaos descended on the peaceful scene, as nearly 200 construction workers arrived at the protest bearing patriotic signs and chanting “All The Way, U.S.A.” and “Love It or Leave It.” -
Nixon Ordered Troops to Cambodia
The announcement that US and South Vietnamese troops had invaded Cambodia resulted in a firestorm of protests and gave the antiwar movement a new rallying point. College students across the nation intensified their antiwar protests with marches, rallies, and scattered incidents of violence. About 400 schools were affected by strikes and more than 200 colleges and universities closed completely. -
Nixon Resigns
Nixon's resignation was what he referred to as the "long and difficult period of Watergate", a 1970s federal political scandal stemming from the break-in of the DNC headquarters at the Watergate Office Building. The Nixon administration attempted to cover up their involvement. Nixon ultimately lost much of his popular and political support as a result of Watergate. At the time of his resignation the next day, Nixon faced almost certain impeachment and removal from office. -
Nixon goes to China
The seven-day official visit to three Chinese cities was the first time a U.S. president had visited the PRC; Nixon's arrival in Beijing ended 25 years of no communication or diplomatic ties between the two countries and was the key step in normalizing relations between the U.S. and PRC. -
Nixon’s Christmas Bombing
On December 13, peace talks between the United States and North Vietnam collapsed. The North Vietnamese and American negotiators traded charges and counter-charges as to who was to blame. Infuriated, 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. -
Nixon’s Vietnamization Policy
Vietnamization was a strategy that aimed to reduce American involvement in the Vietnam War by transferring all military responsibilities to South Vietnam. President Nixon believed this 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. -
Paris Peace Accords
The Paris Peace Accords, officially titled the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam, was a peace treaty signed on January 27, 1973, to establish peace in Vietnam and end the Vietnam War. -
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 Vietcong on April 30th 1975. This was an important loss for the United States to remember for their war against communism.