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After their forces were attacked by the Vietnamese, the French surrender, giving up their power, and leave Vietnam.
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The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization is formed to contain the spread of communism.
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Communist rebels in South Vietnam, called Vietcong, start killing off government officials and destroy roads and bridges, trying to cut off supplies.
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President Kennedy sends US troops to South Vietnam to advise more effective ways to fight communist forces.
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Diem, the leader of South Vietnam, is taken out of power and assassinated with the help of the US, and anit-Diem generals.
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President Kennedy is shot and killed, and Vice President Lyndon Johnson becomes president.
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The North Vietnamese fire on the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin. The Maddox returns fire, and President Johnson orders an airstrike on North Vietnam.
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The Gulf Of Tonkin Resolution is approved by Congress, allowing the president to "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attacks."
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President Johnson alters the US role in Vietnam in response to an attack in Pleiku and orders "Rolling Thunder."
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The US hammers North Vietnam with airstrikes and starts using Napalm, jellied gasoline used to cause explosions.
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By 1967, neither side could advance further and the fighting becomes a stalemate.
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Tensions between America citizens begin to rise as people began to speak out against the war. They began to feel that the war was pointless and didn't have any American interest. Those who supported the war argued against this, saying that it was needed to stop the spread of communism.
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Anit-war collage students burn their draft cards to protest the unfairness of the draft and the Vietnam war
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The North Vietnamese launched an attack on Khe Sanh, the first part of a plan called the "Tet Offensive."
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North Vietnam launches the second part of the Tet Offensive, which is an attack on the US and ARVN positions. The US and South Vietnam were able to repel the attacks, but they now knew that the North was not giving up.
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President Johnson announces limiting the bombing of North Vietnam and the seeking of a negotiation to settle the war. He also shocks the nation when he announced that he would not be running for reelection.
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Richard Nixon is elected as president and starts withdrawing troops from Vietnam, and gives the burden of war to the South Vietnamese.
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President Nixon addresses the American people and tells them of his decision to bring the war into Cambodia after ordering a secret bombing to cut off supplies to North Vietnam.
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The United States, along with North and South Vietnam sign the Paris Peace Accords, agreeing to cease fire on American troops as they leave, ending the war for the US.
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After the United States pulled out of the war, the South was left weakened and vulnerable. They were no match for the North, and it wasn't long before the North completely took over, uniting Vietnam under a communist rule. Ending the Vietnam War.