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Eisenhower
Eisenhower decided against authorizing an air strike to rescue French troops from defeat at Dien Bien Phu, support for the anti-communist government in South Vietnam would sow the seeds of future U.S. participation in the Vietnam War. -
Dien Bien Phu
Vietminh rebels besieged a French garrison at Dien Bien Phu, deep in the interior of northern Vietnam. In May, after the United States refused to intervene, Dien Bien Phu fell to the communists. Turning part, fought by French and Vietnam. French wanted to re-gain it. -
Geneva Accords
Peace agreement which temporarily divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel land required nationwide elections to unify the country. -
Kennedy
Approves sending 400 Special Forces troops and 100 other U.S. military advisers to South Vietnam. Orders the start of clandestine warfare against North Vietnam to be conducted by South Vietnamese agents under the direction and training of the CIA and U.S. Special Forces troops. -
Lyndon B. Johnson
After Kennedy's assassination, President Johnson signed NSAM 273, which reaffirmed the policy of assistance to the South Vietnamese. -
Gulf of Tonkin
A joint resolution of the U.S. Congress passed on August 7, 1964, in direct response to a minor naval engagement known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. It is of historical significance because it gave U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, for the use of military force in Southeast Asia. Also known as USS Madox incident. Lied of what was going on in the war. -
Tonkin Resolution
Provided Johnson unlimited power to fight in Southeast Asia. Fought with the South Vietnamese. -
Fulbright Commission
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on Vietnam conducted, included testimony and debate from several members of Congress, as well as from representatives of interested pro-war and anti-war organizations. Committee created by Uk and US. -
Tet Offensive
National Liberation Front and North Vietnamese forces launched a huge attack on the Vietnamese New Year, which was defeated after a month of fighting and many thousands of casualties. A major defeat for communism, but Americans reacted sharply, with more anti-war sentiment -
My Lai Massacre-
The mass murder of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians by U.S. troops in Son Tinh District, South Vietnam -
Nixon
Believed his Vietnamization strategy, which involved building up South Vietnam's armed forces and withdrawing U.S. troops, would prepare the South Vietnamese to act in their own defense against a North Vietnamese takeover and allow the United States to leave Vietnam with its honor intact. -
Vietnamization
US policy of withdrawing its troops and transferring the responsibility and direction of the war effort to the government of South Vietnam. -
Invasion of Cambodia
A series of military operations conducted in eastern Cambodia by the US and the Republic of Vietnam as an extension of the Vietnam War. -
Pentagon Paper
The leak of papers that should what was going on in Vietnam lost US support. Secret Department of Defense study of U.S. political and military involvement in Vietnam. -
Christmas Bombing
Brought on by the stalemate in peace talks; 11 straight days of bombing N. Vietnam pausing only on Christmas day -
Daniel Ellsberg
Precipitated a national political controversy when he released the Pentagon Papers -
Paris Peace Conference/Accords
the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam, -
War Powers Act-
Reduced presidential war-making powers; Pres. must give Congress 48 hour notice before sending troops into hostile areas and troops can't remain more than 90 days without congressional approval or declaration of war -
Ford
Said that the Vietnam War had ended as far as the United States was concerned. “Today, Americans can regain the sense of pride that existed before Vietnam. -
Fall of Saigon
Capture of the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam.
The period leading to the formal reunification of Vietnam into a socialist republic, governed by the Communist Party of Vietnam. Marched end of Vietnam war.