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War Power Act
The War Powers Act is a congressional resolution designed to limit the U.S. president’s ability to initiate or escalate military actions abroad. Among other restrictions, the law requires that presidents notify Congress after deploying the armed forces and limits how long units can remain engaged without congressional approval. -
Domino Theory Coined
The domino theory was a Cold War policy that suggested a communist government in one nation would quickly lead to communist takeovers in neighboring states, each falling like a perfectly aligned row of dominos. Significant because it described how quickly communism would spread once it infiltrated a nation1 -
Geneva Accords
The Geneva Accords were comprised of ten separate documents that outlined military agreements, declarations from the parties present, and a plan for elections in Vietnam. They brought an end to the First Indochina War and marked the end of French influence in Southeast Asia -
Assassination of Diem
President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother are captured and killed by a group of soldiers. The death of Diem caused celebration among many people in South Vietnam but also lead to political chaos in the nation. The United States subsequently became more heavily involved in Vietnam as it tried to stabilize the South Vietnamese government and beat back the communist rebels that were becoming an increasingly powerful threat. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing President Johnson to take any measures he believed were necessary to retaliate and to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia. -
LBJ Ordered The 1st Troops to Vietnam
Under the authority of President Lyndon B. Johnson, the United States first deployed troops to Vietnam in response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident of August 2 and 4, 1964. -
My Lai Masscre
A company of American soldiers brutally killed most of the people—women, children, and old men—in the village of My Lai. More than 500 people were slaughtered in the My Lai massacre, including young girls and women who were raped and mutilated before being killed. U.S. Army officers covered up the carnage for a year before it was reported in the American press. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam. The offensive was an attempt to foment rebellion among the South Vietnamese population and encourage the United States to scale back its involvement in the Vietnam War. -
Nixon's Vietnamization Policy
Vietnamization was a policy of the Richard Nixon administration to end U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War through a program to "expand, equip, and train South Vietnamese forces and assign to them an ever-increasing combat role, at the same time steadily reducing the number of U.S. combat troops. -
Kent State Shooting
Members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of Kent State University demonstrators, killing four and wounding nine Kent State students. The killings took place during a peace rally opposing the expanding involvement of the Vietnam War into neutral Cambodia by the United States military forces as well as protesting the National Guard presence on campus -
Hard Hat Riots
Protesting students at City College met resistance from a small grop of construction workers, some of whom self-identified themselves as Vietnam veterans. Two days later, hundreds of local students gathered in the morning for a memorial demonstration in Lower Manhattan. Nearly 200 construction workers arrived at the protest bearing patriotic signs and, according to a New York Times report on the incident, chants of “All The Way, U.S.A.” and “Love It or Leave It.” -
Nixon's Christmas Bombing
This event followed Henry A. Kissinger’s October news conference in which he said, “Peace is at hand,” and President Richard Nixon’s triumphant reelection in November. Its purpose was to persuade the South Vietnamese to go along with an armistice to which they were violently opposed. The bombing ended not because the enemy cried “enough” but because American losses of B-52s were becoming intolerable. -
Nixon's Christmas Bombing
Brought on by stalemate in peace talks; 11 straight days of bombing N. Vietnam pausing only on Christmas day. According to Nixon and his supporters, the Christmas bombing forced the North Vietnamese to make concessions, accept an armistice, and release American POWs. It was a great U.S. victory that brought peace with honor. -
Paris Peace Accords
The Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973 by the governments of North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and the United States with the intent to establish peace in Vietnam. The Paris Peace Accords End Direct Combat Role of United States in the Vietnam War. -
Saigon Falls
South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese Army, effectively ending the Vietnam War. In the days before, U.S. forces evacuated thousands of Americans and South Vietnamese. American diplomats were on the front lines, organizing what would be the most ambitious helicopter evacuation in history.