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Ho Chi Minh
Born near central Vietnam. As a young man, Ho Chi Minh taught at a village school. When he turned twenty-one, Ho Chi Minh, sailed to Europe on a French freighter. Minh afforded this trip by working in the galley of the ship. During his trip, Minh stopped in the Soviet Union, where he realized he enjoyed the idea of communism. -
Minh's Return to Vietnam
Minh returned to Vietnam in 1941. By this time, Japan had gained control of the country. Ho Chi Minh organized his troop called the Vietminh. The Vietminh managed to bridge the gap between communists and non-communists to expel Japan from their midst. Eventually, the United States began to send military to aid the Vietminh. -
Dien Bien Phu
In 1954 the French commander told his troops to station themselves in the town of Dien Bien Phu. By taking this town, the French were able to interfere with the Vietminh's supplies and force them into a fight. After this, a large Vietminh force surrounded Dien Bien Phu. The force began attacking the town. On May 7th, 1954, the French were defeated by the Vietminh. The French decided to withdraw from Indochina. -
Vietminh Defeat the French
Despite amounts of aid from the United States, the French still struggled with the Vietminh. The Vietminh provided constant frustrations for the French with hit and run, followed by ambush, attacks. These were the tactics of guerrillas. These people blended in with society and are often hard for regular armies to fight. Because of increasingly large casualties coupled with the inability for France to defeat the Vietminh, the war become unpopular in France. This struggle reached a peak in 1954. -
The Geneva Conference
The Geneva Conference was met with the intention of creating agreements to end the conflict. Held in Geneva, Switzerland, the Geneva Accords were created in an attempt to temporarily separate Vietnam. In control of the North was Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh. The South, was controlled, however, by a pro-Western regime. During the Geneva Conference, Cambodia was also recognized as being an independent country, while Laos had gained their independence the year before. -
The 26th Amendment
The very first thing that the 26th Amendment did was lower the voting age from 21 to 18. This bill was the fastest to pass in all of history, though it took a lot of hard work. Student activism in the 1960’s made the dream for teens to vote, a reality. The discussions that fueled the question of the voting age, was decided when the draft was being protested -
Kennedy Takes Office
President Kennedy took office in 1961. While in office, Kennedy continued the nation's support for South Vietnam. Kennedy, like Truman and Eisenhower, saw the country as important in the fight against communism. Kennedy needed to appear tough on communism, thus, upon instruction from his advisers, the number of men in Vietnam rose from 2000 to 15,000. -
Overthrow of Diem
Many examples of Diem's dislike of Buddhism were shown throughout his reign. Buddhists were beginning to rebel when Henry Cabot Lodge landed in Vietnam. When he showed sympathy toward the rebels, the rebels began a storm. On November 1st, 1963, Diem was overthrown and executed. -
Tonkin Resolution
The Senate and the House passed the "Tonkin Resolution" on August the 7th, of 1964. This allowed the president to have full military control, and decide when the United States went to war. This was passed soon after communists in Vietnam attacked two jets over the Gulf of Tonkin. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
March 1965 marked the day that Johnson decided to expand American involvement in the war. After shifting his policy to a maintained bombing campaign in Vietnam, Johnson was able to order the first combat troops into Vietnam. America was now fighting against North Vietnam, alongside South Vietnam, to defeat the Vietcong. This operation was called Operation Rolling Thunder. -
Teach Ins
At the teach-ins, students and their teachers discussed the world's issues, especially the war that was raging in Vietnam. May of 1965 made history as a day where 122 colleges held a “National Teach In” via radio for 100,000 demonstrators. -
Extreme Casualties
Excessive bombing from American fighter planes killed many Vietnamese troops and innocents between 1965 and 1967. The Vietcong and North Vietnamese troops continued to fight mercilessly, showing no signs of surrender. American casualties continued to grow, and, by the end of 1966, had reached more than 6700 American soldiers. This caused the idea of a quick and easy finish to the war to become nothing more than a small hope. This resulted in the distrust of American's in their government. -
Tet Offensive
Vietnam War - Hue City 1968The Tet Offensive was a series of attacks on South Vietnam by a force called the Vietcong. The Vietcong was a group in Northern Vietnam. This point of the war was to be later considered as a turning point because it took weeks for South Vietnam and the United States to gain back the town of Hue. The attacks officially began on the 31st of January, 1968, -
Anger at the Draft
Many minorities and poor people had to fight in the war without a choice. This escalated through the years, and at the end of 1968 police had arrested more than 3300 Americans who refused to participate in the draft, and denied their "duty" to go to war. -
Nixon Wins the Presidency
The 1968 Presidential Elections was greatly benefited by the chaos in the Democratic Party. It especially benefited Richard Nixon. Defeated in the 1960's election, Nixon remained active in the nation's politics. In the end, Nixon's promises to end the war, and restore order at home were enough to pull the general public's liking toward him. Nixon defeated his opponent Hubert Humphrey by more than 100 electoral votes. -
Vietnamization
Vietnamization is defined as "the cutback of troops stationed in Vietnam". South Vietnam took control of most of the fighting. This, in turn, allowed the United States to withdraw more than 25,000 troops. Not wanting to appear "soft to communism", Nixon wanted to enforce a strong U.S. military appearance in Vietnam. This was to ensure that the United States still had bargaining rights when the war was over. -
Kent State
On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guard soldiers were armed with tear gas and rifles, taking aim at demonstrators without orders to do so. These soldiers killed four students and wounded at least nine others. Ten days after this incident, two African American students were killed during a demonstration at Jackson State College in Mississippi. All these violent attacks started when Cambodia was invaded. This was seen as a war expansion, and caused many riots and protests. -
The Troops Come Home
Nearly two thirds of the American population wanted to end the war. In April of 1972, Nixon dropped his insistence that North Vietnamese troops had to withdraw from the South before action was taken. Henry Kissenger announced that “peace is at hand.” When the peace treaties were all taken care of, the United States promised to remove the rest of its remaining troops from Vietnam -
War Powers Act
The "War Powers Act" of 1973 was established by Congress as a way to recreate some limits of the executive power. This act made the president inform Congress of any commitment of troops abroad within 48 hours and to withdraw them in 60 to 90 days unless Congress specifically granted approval to the troops commitment. -
The Surrender of South Vietnam
In March of 1975, after the US took troops away from Vietnam, the North Vietnamese launched a full scale invasion on the South. Because of a switch in presidency, however, when Thieu (leader of S. VIetnam) attempted to ask for help, the help was denied. April 30 of the same year marked the success of the North Vietnamese, who managed to successfully capture S. Vietnam’s capital, Saigon. After this, Vietnam was reunited under communist rule and Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City.
