-
Period: to
The Vietnam Anti-War Movement
-
SDS founded
The Students for a democratic society, later to become one of the most influential anti-vietnam organizations, is founded in early 1960 by Tom Hayden and Al Haber. -
U.S. Enters Vietnam
The U.S. formally entered the Vietnam War in 1963 after the French retreat, and had 16,000 troops stationed in South Vietnam by the end of the Year -
JFK Assasinated
John F. Kennedy is shot just a few weeks after having announced his plans to withdraw troops from South Vietnam. These plans are never acted upon. -
Lyndon B. Johnson wins General Election
Though having already acted as president in wake of Kennedy's death, LBJ won the reelection in 1964 and subsequently began expanding US forces in Vietnam -
US Bombings Occur in North Vietnam; Anti-War Movement Grows
Word Spreads of the United States bombing parts of Northern Vietnam, and the protest movement soon experiences a large growth in support as a result. -
First March on Washington D.C.
The SDS used its nedw growth in membership to organize a march on washington in protest of the bombings, and attracts an attendance of between 15,000 and 25,000. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Speaks out in protest of the War
In an article published in the Chicago Defender, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. openly opposed our presence and actions in Vietnam on a moral level. -
10,000 protest letters sent to Sec. of Defense. R. McNamara
Thousands of people from across the country wrote letters to secretary of defense Robert McNamara stating their moral disapproval of the actions in Vietnam. -
March on the Pentagon attracts national media
A 2 day march on the Pentagon building attracted national media coverage. Here, leaders of the movement called for young men to burn their draft Cards -
Second March on Washington draws 500,000
A second march on Washington D,C. drew an attendance of about 500,000, one of the largest protest marches ever organized. -
Kent State Shootings
A public proteset demonstration at Kent State University after Nixon Announced U.S. entry into Cambodia ended in violence and the killing of 4 students -
Nixon Announces End of U.S. Involvement
In response to an overwhelming majority of Americans opposing the War, President Nixon announced that the U.S. was effectively withdrawing from Vietnam.