Vietnam War Timeline

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    Geneva Accords

    The Geneva Conference, intended to settle outstanding issues resulting from the Korean War and the First Indochina War, was a conference involving several nations that took place in Geneva, Switzerland
  • Assassination of Diem

    Assassination of Diem
    Ngô Đình Diệm was a Vietnamese politician. He was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam, and then served as President of South Vietnam from 1955 until he was deposed and assassinated
  • gulf of tonkin resolution

    gulf of tonkin resolution
    The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution authorized President Lyndon Johnson to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the United States forces and to prevent further aggression” by the communist government of North Vietnam.
  • LBJ ordered 1st troops to Vietnam

    LBJ ordered 1st troops to Vietnam
    Under the authority of President Lyndon B. Johnson, the United States first deployed troops to Vietnam in 1965 in response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident of August 2 and 4, 1964.
  • Tet Offensive

    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.
  • my lai massacre

    my lai massacre
    the mass murder of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians by U.S. troops in Sơn Tịnh District, South Vietnam
  • nixon becomes president

    nixon becomes president
    The presidency of Richard Nixon began at noon EST on January 20, 1969, when Richard Nixon was inaugurated as 37th President of the United States.
  • nixon’s vietnamization policy

    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".
  • Nixon ordered troops to Cambodia

    Nixon ordered troops to Cambodia
    He announced his decision to launch American forces into Cambodia with the special objective of capturing COSVN, "the headquarters of the entire Communist military operation in South Vietnam." Nixon's speech on national television on 30 April 1970 was called "vintage Nixon" by Kissinger.
  • Hard hat riot

    Hard hat riot
    around 400 construction workers and around 800 office workers attacked around 1,000 demonstrators affiliated with the student strike of 1970.
  • Nixon goes to China

    Nixon goes to China
    U.S. President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China was an important strategic and diplomatic overture that marked the culmination of the Nixon administration's resumption of harmonious relations between the United States and mainland China after years of diplomatic isolation.
  • Nixon’s Christmas bombing

    Nixon’s Christmas bombing
    Part of Nixon's "madman theory" was meant to intimidate North Vietnam by showing that he was a dangerous leader capable of anything.
  • Paris Peace Accords

    Paris Peace Accords
    An Agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Viet Nam
  • Nixon Resigns

    Nixon Resigns
    With his complicity in the cover-up made public and his political support completely eroded, Nixon resigned from office.
  • Saigon Falls

    Saigon Falls
    The South Vietnamese stronghold of Saigon (now known as Ho Chi Minh City) falls to People's Army of Vietnam