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Eisenhower Administration
Although he avoided war, Eisenhower did not achieve the peace he desired. He hoped for détente with the Soviet Union but instead left to his successor an intensified Cold War. He was unable to secure a test-ban treaty, which he hoped would be an important part of his legacy. The covert interventions he authorized in Iran and Guatemala yielded short-term success but contributed to long-term instability. -
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Dien Bien Phu
With the defeat of the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the United States became concerned about communist gains in Vietnam. -
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Geneva Accords
In an effort to resolve several problems in Asia, including the war between the French and Vietnamese nationalists in Indochina, representatives from the world’s powers meet in Geneva. The conference marked a turning point in the United States’ involvement in Vietnam. -
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Kennedy Administration
Early errors in judgment, particularly in the Bay of Pigs fiasco, seemingly confirmed these fears. By the summer of 1962, the administration was in trouble. A particularly difficult Cold War climate abroad, an antagonistic Congress at home, increasingly bold activist groups agitating for change, and a discouraging economic outlook all contributed to an increasingly negative view of the Kennedy White House. -
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Johnson Administration
Further clouding Johnson's legacy was the devastating outcome of the Vietnam War. While his programs kept untold numbers of Americans out of poverty, gave others basic health care, and ensured the fundamental rights of citizenship for minorities, in Southeast Asia, millions of Vietnamese lost their lives and homes. At a time when Americans were reshaping the locus of power at home, events in Vietnam were raising serious questions about how America should use its clout abroad. -
Gulf of Tonkin
Because of President Johnson's claims, the United States Congress issued the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. This proclamation authorized Johnson to retaliate for the alleged attacks in the Gulf of Tonkin -
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. without a declaration of war. -
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Fulbright Commission
These hearings began to part the curtains. Improbably, they became a national event and, for Lyndon Johnson, an unwelcome challenge to his conduct of the war. That they were presided over by Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, probably the most famous senator of his time and at one point a close ally of Johnson’s, made them even harder for the president to tolerate. -
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Tet Offensive
The offensive was a crushing military defeat for the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese, but the size and scope of the communist attacks had caught the American and South Vietnamese allies completely by surprise. Holiday for the Vietnam. Said that no one would fight for one week. Public started to lose public support. -
My Lai Massacre
The morale in the United States Army was already pretty poor as it happened just a few months after the Tet Offensive, where the public lost their confidence in the US Army and their ability to win the war -
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Nixon Administration
Nuclear arms control agreements with the Soviet Union and the diplomatic opening to China—set the stage for the arms reduction pacts and careful diplomacy that brought about the end of the Cold War. Nixon Doctrine of furnishing aid to allies while expecting them to provide the soldiers to fight in their own defense paved the way for the Reagan Doctrine. -
Vietnamization
President Nixon believed his Vietnamization 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. -
Invasion of Cambodia
US attempt to break the Ho Chi Min Trail. -
Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg came to oppose the war, and decided that the information contained in the Pentagon Papers should be available to the American public. He photocopied the report and in March 1971 gave the copy to The New York Times, which then published a series of scathing articles based on the report’s most damning secrets. -
Pentagon Papers
Papers that contain a history of the U.S. role in Indochina from World War II until May 1968 and that were commissioned in 1967 by U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. They were turned over (without authorization) to The New York Times by Daniel Ellsberg, a senior research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for International Studies. Government lied about role in Indochina. -
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Christmas Bombing
The North Vietnamese and American negotiators traded charges and countercharges 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. The United States lost 15 of its giant B-52s and 11 other aircraft during the attacks. -
Paris Peace Conference/Accords
Peace treaty, ending the war. US pulls out of war. -
War Powers Act
Congress passed the War Powers Resolution in the aftermath of the Vietnam War to address these concerns and 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. Limit president's power and ability to wage war. -
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Ford Administration
While the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Helsinki pact, they failed to agree on a major arms control agreement. Moreover, superpower tensions remained high as U.S. and Soviet proxies clashed in Angola. At the same time, while the Vietnam War ended on Ford's watch the Communist victory failed to tar the President. Fall of Saigon, Ford ordered a successful military operation to rescue the crew ofthe Mayaguez, the President's approval rating shot up accordingly. -
Fall of Saigon
United States organized the evacuation of Americans and South Vietnamese orphans and refugees from the city. On April 29 and 30, the United States frantically rescued all remaining Americans and some Vietnamese via helicopter. In the American news media, photographs of the airlifts from the roof of the United States Embassy and other buildings become emblematic of the fall of Saigon. However, thousands of South Vietnamese desperate to escape were left stranded outside the embassy.