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French give up
French forces at Dien Bien Phu fell to the Vietminh after endless shells raining down on them. The defeat convinced the French to make peace and withdraw from Indochina. -
Geneva Conference
Negotiations to end the conflict were held in Geneva, Switzerland. Elections were to be held to reunite the country under a single government. The Geneva Conference also recognized Cambodia’s independence. -
Kennedy takes over
President Kennedy continued the nation’s policy of support for South Vietnam. Like presidents Truman and Eisenhower before him, Kennedy saw the Southeast Asian country as vitally important in the battle against communism. -
Tonkin Resolution
Senate and House passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing the president to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.” -
Vietcong attack at Pleiku
7 Americans dead and more than 100 wounded, President Johnson decided to respond. Less than 14 hours after the attack, American aircraft assaulted North Vietnam. This made Johnson popular in the American eyes. -
Teach-ins
A group of faculty members and students at the University of Michigan abandoned their classes and joined together in a teach-in. They informally discussed the issues surrounding the war and reaffirmed their reasons for opposing it. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Johnson expanded American involvement by shifting his policy to a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam. That month the president also ordered the first combat troops into Vietnam. American soldiers were now fighting alongside the South Vietnamese troops against the Vietcong. -
Uncertainty
Congress, which had given the president a nearly free hand in Vietnam, soon grew uncertain about the war. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held “educational” hearings on Vietnam. -
Unfair draft
Many people protesters focused on the unfair draft system. A college student was often able to defer military service until after graduation. Young people from low-income families were more likely to be sent to Vietnam because they were unable to afford college. -
No sign of surrender
Bombing from American planes killed as many as 220,000 Vietnamese. The Vietcong and North Vietnamese troops showed no sign of surrendering though. -
Tet Offensive
The Vietcong and North Vietnamese launched a massive surprise attack. The guerrilla fighters attacked virtually all American air bases in South Vietnam and most of the South’s major cities and provincial capitals. -
Nixon President
Richard Nixon was elected as the new president and promised to bring the nation back together after he saw a little girl holding a sign. -
Vietnamization
Nixon cut back the number of American troops in Vietnam. Gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops while South Vietnam assumed more of the fighting. -
Invasion of Cambodia
American troops had invaded Cambodia. The troops wanted to destroy Vietcong military bases there. -
Kent State
Ohio National Guard soldiers, armed with tear gas and rifles, fired on demonstrators without an order to do so. The soldiers killed four students and wounded at least nine others. -
26th Amendment
Gave all citizens age 18 and older the right to vote in all state and federal elections. -
War Powers Act
Reestablished some limits on executive power. The act required the president to inform Congress of any commitment of troops abroad within 48 hours and to withdraw them in 60 to 90 days unless Congress explicitly approved the troop commitment. -
US withdrawal of troops
President starts to order troops to be taken out of battle. -
South Vietnam surrender
North Vietnamese captured Saigon, South Vietnam’s capital, and united Vietnam under Communist rule. They then renamed Saigon Ho Chi Minh City. -
Vietnam Memorial
The nation dedicated the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., a large black stone wall inscribed with the names of those killed and missing in action in the war.
