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The South Vietnamese President had recently refused to participate in the election intended to unite the Vietnams that had been planned at the Geneva Accords due to his failing popularity. On August 31st, American Secretary of State, John Dulles publically supported this decision, thinking it the wisest current option.
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During a US supported coup by the South Vietnamese, President Ngo Dinh Diem was assasinated. Despite the fact that he had actually surrendered and was promised safty.
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The US military attempted to reduce the fighting power of North Vietnam by bombing specific locations in their territory. This is significant because it was the first major and extended involvement of the US in the Vietnam War
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American soldiers on a search-and-destroy mission killed nearly 500 civilians in the village of My Lai belived to be associated with the Vietcong.
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Nixon, the republican canidate, won the presidency against the democratic canidate Hubert Humphrey. He was partially given an advantage in the fact that many people were dissatisfied with the Johnson administration's handling of the war.
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Students at Kent State University were protesting Nixon's announcement of the Cambodia Invasion when the governor of Ohio sent the National Guard to quell the unrest. The guardsmen opened fire on the crowd killing four students.
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Daniel Ellsberg, who had been a part of the study about military involvemnt in Vietnam known as the Pentagon Papers, leaked the document to the New York Times, who then published it, as they believed Americans had a right to know more of the truth about the war. This scandal brought attention to the credibility gap between the government and the media and shook many people's faith in their leaders.
