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Ho Chi Minh declared independence from France, just hours after Japan surrendered and WWII came to an end.
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In Hanoi, 30,000 Viet Minh launch their first large-scale attack against the French. Thus begins an eight year struggle known as the First Indochina War.
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US president, Harry Truman, authorized funding of $160 million to assist the French in their war effort. By 1951 US military aid to the French had tripled to $450 million and by 1953 it was up to $785 million. Also, French forces in Vietnam were using ships and aircraft on loan from the US.
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Dwight D. Eisenhower, former five-star Army general and Allied commander in Europe during World War II, is inaugurated as the 34th U.S. President.
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President Eisenhower shares his theory of countries falling to communism one after another in this famous speech. He suggests the idea that if one Southeast Asian country turns to communism, the neighboring ones will as well and cause a domino effect.
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The Geneva Accords divide Vietnam in half at the 17th parallel, with Ho Chi Minh's Communists ceded the North, while Bao Dai's regime is granted the South.
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The last French soldier leaves South Vietnam.
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Kennedy becomes the youngest president to ever be elected. He becomes the 35th president when he was sworn in on January 20, 1961.
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Diem and his brother were taken and killed by a group of soldiers.
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Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed the President in Dallas, Texas.
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Directly after the assassination of JFK, Johnson becomes the 36th President of the United States.
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The U.S. destroyer Maddox was fired on by North Vietnamese torpedo boats. Two days later, in the same area, the Maddox and another destroyer reported that they were again under attack.
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North Vietnam and the Viet Cong launched an attack on more than 100 cities in South Vietnam in order to diminish the US support in Saigon while simultaneously trying to stop rebellion. The news reports on this event caused the American public to turn their backs on the US war effort.
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After losing the 1960 presidential election to Kennedy, Nixon runs for governor of California and lost against Pat Brown. Instead of letting this be the end of his political career (as many thought it would be) he ran for the 1968 presidential election against Humphrey and won by a majority in the electoral college.
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January 1973, representatives of the United States, North and South Vietnam, and the Vietcong signed a peace agreement in Paris, ending the direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War.
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After the resignation of Nixon, Ford becomes the 38th President of the US.
