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Geneva Accords
Vietnam would become an independent nation, formally ending 75 years of French colonialism. The former French colonies Cambodia and Laos would also be given their independence. Vietnam would be temporarily divided for a period of two years. -
Assassination of Diem
Following the overthrow of his government by South Vietnamese military forces the day before, President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother are captured and killed by a group of soldiers. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The resolution served as the principal constitutional authorization for the subsequent vast escalation of the United States military involvement in the Vietnam War. President Lyndon Johnson announced that two days earlier, U.S. ships in the Gulf of Tonkin had been attacked by the North Vietnamese. -
LBJ ordered 1st troops to Vietnam
Recognizing that the South Vietnamese government and army were on the verge of collapse, Johnson sent the first U.S. combat troops into battle in early 1965. He simultaneously authorized a massive bombing campaign, codenamed Operation Rolling Thunder, that would continue unabated for years. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive played an important role in weakening U.S. public support for the war in Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh and leaders in Hanoi planned the Tet Offensive in the hopes of achieving a decisive victory that would end the grinding conflict that frustrated military leaders on both sides. -
My Lai Massacre
American soldiers massacred more than 200 men, women, and children. People began to turn against the war because they had previously believed that their country was the good country that was helping but this incident revealed that perhaps their men were not the good people in this war. -
Nixon becomes President
Nixon's victory marked the start of a period of Republican dominance in presidential elections, as Republicans won five of the next six elections. The presidency of Richard Nixon began at noon on January 20, 1969, when Richard Nixon was inaugurated as 37th President of the United States -
Nixon ordered troops to Cambodia
Nixon ordered troops into Cambodia to disrupt the Ho Chi Minh Trail and other supply lines used by North Vietnam, even though Cambodia was neutral. In 1970, he ordered air and ground strikes in Cambodia. This is the most controversial act of his to end the Vietnam War. -
Nixon’s Vietnamization Policy
Nixon's policy involved withdrawing 540,000 US troops from South Vietnam over an extended period of time. It also included a gradual take over of the South Vietnamese taking responsibility for fighting their own war by American-provided money, weapons, training, and advice. -
Hard Hat Riot
Students were protesting the May 4 Kent State shootings and the Vietnam War, following the April 30 announcement by President Richard Nixon of the U.S. invasion of neutral Cambodia. -
Nixon goes to China
U.S. President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China was an important step in formally normalizing relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China. -
Nixon’s Christmas bombing
Some historians have argued that the bombings forced the North Vietnamese back to the negotiating table. Others have suggested that the attacks had little impact, beyond the additional death and destruction they caused. -
Paris Peace Accords
The Paris Peace Accords was an agreement between the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, the Republic of Vietnam, and the United States to bring an end to the Vietnam War. The settlement included a cease-fire throughout Vietnam. -
Nixon Resigns
The House Judiciary Committee then approved articles of impeachment against Nixon for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress. With his complicity in the cover-up made public and his political support completely eroded, Nixon resigned from office on August 9, 1974. -
Saigon Falls
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. This tumultuous war had finally come to an end, and the macabre scene in Vietnam was at its close, at least for the most part.