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The Geneva Accords
The Geneva Accords of 1954 were designed to secure peace in Vietnam but would eventually contribute to war. The conference was left with the unenviable task: organise an interim government in Vietnam and arrange for Vietnam’s transition to independence. -
Ho Chi Minh
Determined to reunite Vietnam under communist rule, Ho Chi Minh, was able to accomplishin the early 1960s when North Vietnamese-backed guerrillas, the Vietcong, were attacking the South Vietnamese government. Fearing the spread of communism, the United States provided increasing levels of support to South Vietnam. By 1965, large numbers of American troops were arriving and the fighting escalated into a major conflict. -
Kennedy and Vietnam
In 1961, Kennedy agreed that America should finance an increase in the size of the South Vietnamese Army from 150,000 to 170,000. He also agreed that an extra 1000 US military advisors should be sent to South Vietnam to help train the South Vietnamese Army. Both of these decisions were not made public as they broke the agreements made at the 1954 Geneva Agreement. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave broad congressional approval for expansion of the Vietnam War. President Johnson submitted to the Senate a resolution that authorized him to take “all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.” -
Johnson and Vietnam
After suceeding Kennedy as President in 1964, Johnson was encouraged by his advisors to take up a more forceful approach to the Vietnam conflict and to send in US troops to bolster the South Vietnam Army. -
Napalm and Agent Orange
U.S. troops used a substance known as napalm from about 1965 to 1972 in the Vietnam War; napalm is a mixture of plastic polystyrene, hydrocarbon benzene, and gasoline. Agent Orange is a toxic chemical herbicide that was used from about 1965 – 1970 in the Vietnam War. By the end of the operation over twenty million gallons of herbicides and defoliants were sprayed over forests and fields. -
Tet Offensive
On January 31, 1968, some 70,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launched the Tet Offensive (named for the lunar new year holiday called Tet), a coordinated series of fierce attacks on more than 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam. -
Vietnamization
Upon taking office in 1969, U.S. President Richard Nixon introduced a new strategy called Vietnamization that was aimed at ending American involvement in the Vietnam War by transferring all military responsibilities to South Vietnam. -
Bombing of Cambodia
On February 22, 1969, the North Vietnamese launched a new offensive against American forces in South Vietnam from their sanctuaries in Cambodia. A paranoid Nixon, took this as a personal slap in the face and sought retaliation. Nixon’s fatal decision to bomb Cambodia and his struggle to keep it a secret would have disastrous domestic and foreign consequences, ones that would plague two nations, Cambodia and the United States, for many years. -
Henry Kissinger
Served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He negotiated the Paris Peace Accords, ending American involvement in the Vietnam War.
