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JFK Enters office
John F. Kennedy is elected president. After taking office, Vice President Lyndon Johnson travels to Vietnam and affirms his support for Diem's increasingly autocratic government. -
Take Over and Assassination
Diem, whose increasingly repressive measures have alienated Vietnamese Buddhists, is overthrown in a bloody coup approved by the United States. Later that month, President Kennedy is assassinated. -
Attacks and Retaliation
After an alleged attack by the North Vietnamese on the U.S.S. Maddox, Congress overwhelmingly passes the Gulf of Tonkin resolution authorizing President Johnson to take "all necessary measures" in the region. -
Election and Military Presence
Just days after the Viet Cong shell an American air base, Johnson wins a landslide election over Republican Barry Goldwater. Operating with both legislative and electoral mandates, Johnson will soon significantly increase America's military presence in Vietnam. -
College Protests
Sociology department head William Sewell organizes a well-attended antiwar teach-in on the University of Wisconsin at Madison campus, reflecting his belief that the U.S. doesn't have "any business over there" in Vietnam. First attempted at the University of Michigan just a week earlier, the teach-in becomes a popular form of protest. -
Protest Pays Off
In a protest against changes to the draft policy that threaten some of their deferments, students stage the first "sit-in" at the University of Wisconsin, occupying an administration building peacefully for several days before a compromise is reached. -
Failed Protests
Recruiters from Dow visit the Madison campus, where they are confronted by protesters bearing Ramparts photographs. The next day students, including Soglin, stage a sit-in at the university chancellor's offices, but the confrontation is defused when the chancellor uses his own money to bail out arrested protesters. -
Protest of Die
The Cardinal, University of Wisconsin's student newspaper, prints a warning from the dean of students that any students who disrupt campus interviews will be subject to disciplinary action. Fearing prior restraint on their right to protest, Paul Soglin and other students file a lawsuit in federal court. -
Peace Once Again
Peace Talks aimed at ending the war begin in Paris. -
Violent Protests
Antiwar protest at the University of Wisconsin turns violent again when a bomb destroys Sterling Hall, home of the Pentagon-sponsored Army Math Research Center. A physicist with no connections to the Army center is killed.