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France looses their eight-year struggle to regain Vietnam.
The Vietminh trapped a large French garrison at Dien Bien Phu and laid siege to to it for 55 days. Vietminh troops destroyed the French airstrip, cut French supply lines, and dug trenches to attack main French Positions. On May 7, 1954, the French surrendered. -
Kennedy sends troops to Vietnam.
A year after JFK was elected, he sent Special Forces to South Vietnam to advise the ARVN. 2 years later, he sent more than 15,000 American "advisers" to fight in South Vietnam. -
Johnson becomes president.
After the assassination of JFK, Vice President, Lyndon Johnson is sworn in as the new president. He was a Cold War traditionalist and held a monolithic view of communism, communism in the Soviet Union, China, and Vietnam were all the same. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passes.
The Resolution stated that the president is authorized to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against against the forces of the US and prevent further aggression. -
Students clash with administrators and police.
Student activists at the University of California protested the schools decision not to allow them to use university grounds to organize off-campus political activities. -
Johnson Americanizes the war.
President Johnson alters the U.S. role in the Vietnam War by responding to the Vietcong attack on American troops at Pleiku, Johnson ordered the start of the first sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam, called Operation Rolling Thunder. -
Civilian massacre in My Lai.
Lieutenant William Calley's unit begins shooting the un armed civilians in My Lai. The soldiers killed between 4 and 5 hundred thousand Vietnamese. -
President Johnson addresses the nation on television.
Johnson announces to the nation that American would limit it's bombing of North Vietnam and would seek a negotiated settlement to the war. He would also announce that he will not be running for a second term. -
Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated.
In Memphis, Tennessee, one of the most known civil rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by a racist assassin. -
Robert Kennedy assassination.
Kennedy was shot by a Palestinian immigrant, Sirhan Sirhan, at a ralley celebrating his victory in the California primary. Sirhan may have wanted revenge for America's support for Israel in that contry's war with Egypt the year before. -
Robert Kennedy assassination.
Kennedy was killed at a ralley celebrating his victory in the California primary. He was shot by a Palestinian immigrant, Sirhan Sirhan. -
Nixon becomes president.
Republican, Richard Nixion, won the president election against Democratic nominee, Vice President Hubert Humphrey. -
Nixon becomes president.
Nixion won the election against the democratic nominee, Vice President Hubert Hmphrey. -
War in Cambodia
Nixon addresses the American people of his decsion to carry the war into Cambodia. -
Violence at Kent State
4 Kent State University were killed and 9 were injured when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on demonstration protesting the Vietnam War. -
China reaches out to the U.S.
China invited an American table-tennis team to play against its athletes, it demonsrated China's willingness to talk. -
Nixon travels to China
Nixon makes a trip to china and toured historical sites. He sat down for a talk with Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong. -
Paris Peace Accords.
The U.S., South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Vietcong signed the Paris Peace Accords, they agreed to a cease-fire and a U.S. troop withdrawl from South Vietnam. -
Saigon Falls
North Vietnam launched an offensive against the South, without American aid and ground support, Saigon fell to communism -
End of the war.
After 20 years, the Vietnam War finally comes to an end.