Chronology of America’s Longest War: Vietnam 1950-1975
Date
May 1950
May 1954
July 1954
September 1954
1961
Event
Truman authorizes $10 million in aid
to the French in Indochina fighting a
war against guerilla forces led by Ho
Chi Minh
French colonial presence ends with
Vietnamese victory at Dien Bien Phu
Geneva accords establish temporary
division of North and South Vietnam
at 17th parallel and provide for free
elections to be held by 1956.
U.S. joins with European, East Asian,
and other nations to form Southeast
Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).
Eisenhower administration begins to
send weapons and military advisers
to South Vietnam to bolster Diem
government.
Under Kennedy administration,
military aid to South Vietnam
doubles, and the number of military
advisers reaches 9,000
Strategic Hamlet Program
Operation Ranch Hand
November 1963
August 1964
February 1965
1965-1967
January 1968
March 1968
Overthrow and assassination of Ngo
Dinh Diem after Kennedy gives tacit
approval to coup
Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution
Johnson administration initiates
Operation Rolling Thunder,
intensifying bombing of North
Vietnam
Number of troops in Vietnam
increases, reaching 543,000 in 1968
but U.S. and ARVN forces only make
limited progress against the guerilla
forces, resulting in a stalemate
Vietcong launches Tet Offensive
Johnson announces reduction in
bombing of North Vietnam, plans for
peace talks, and his decision not to
run for another presidential term
My Lai massacre- 347-504 mostly
women and children were killed
after being beaten, sexually abused,
and tortured. William Calley was
convicted.
Significance
Beginning of the American
involvement in Vietnam
Power vacuum
U.S. refuses to support the Geneva
accords for fear they will lead to a
communist North Vietnam.
Support for Diem’s government is
established. Between 1955 and 1961
the U.S. sends $800 million in aid to
South Vietnamese army (ARVN) to
support its struggle with the North
Vietnamese government.
The way is opened for an American
combat role in Vietnam.
Thousands of South Vietnamese are
relocated to fenced in hamlets
Chemical defoliants such as Agent
Orange are used
Political vacuum of power created in
Saigon
Johnson uses the resolution to
escalate the war. He is given
authority to use unlimited military
force in Vietnam.
The bombing proves ineffective. U.S.
involvement escalates in an effort to
compel a diplomatic settlement
Public support for the war erodes in
the U.S.
Widespread destruction and heavy
casualties. The offensive was a
psychological victory for the
communists.
End of American escalation in
Vietnam
When the incident became public a
year later it fostered anger and
distrust at the war and a government
that had covered it up.
May 1968
Paris peace talks begins
1969
Nixon administration initiates the
secret bombing of Cambodia,
increases the bombing of North
Vietnam while reducing U.S. troops
in the South, and pursues peace talks
Nixon orders joint U.S.-ARVN
invasion of Cambodia
U.S. troops in Vietnam decreased
from 334,600 to 140,000
April 1970
1970-1971
1972
1973
Jan. 1975
April 1975
With peace talks stalled, Nixon
orders most devastating bombing of
North Vietnam of war
U.S., North Vietnam, and South
Vietnam sign cease-fire in Paris. U.S.
agrees to remove its troops within
60 days
North Vietnam invades South
Vietnam
Fall of Saigon
U.S. and North Vietnam quickly
deadlock on peace terms
Reduction of 25,000 troops from the
South is the beginning of policy of
Vietnamization
(Nixon Doctrine)
Widening of war to include all
Indochina
Despite withdrawal of troops, more
names are listed on the Vietnam
Wall Memorial from the Nixon
administration that from any other
president who served during the war
U.S. attempts to pressure North
Vietnam into agreeing to peace
terms
End of direct American military
involvement in Vietnam
U.S. unwilling to try again to rescue
South Vietnam
Abrupt withdrawal of U.S. from
South Vietnam. Vietcong troops
occupy Saigon, renaming it Ho Chi
Minh City
ARVN- the Army of the Republic of Vietnam was the land-based military forces of the Republic of Vietnam (South
Vietnam)
Ho Chi Minh- (1890-1969) founder of the Vietnamese Communist Party (1930) and first president of the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam (1945-1969).
Ngo Dinh Diem- (1901-1963) Prime minister and president, Republic of Vietnam, 1954-1963. Overthrown and killed
in 1963. Catholic. From 1950-1954 Diem lived in Europe and the U.S. He stayed for a time at a Catholic seminary in
New Jersey.
General Westmoreland- general, U.S. Army commander, U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (1964-1968).
Instrumental in raising the level of U.S. forces in South Vietnam and developing the military strategy of attrition for
the ground war. During the 1968 Tet Offensive, Westmoreland though surprised, reacted quickly and decisively
defeated the attackers.
Robert McNamara- U.S. secretary of defense, 1961-1968.
Dean Rusk- U.S. secretary of state, 1961-1969.
Henry Kissinger- national security adviser, 1969-1975, secretary of state 1973-1977. Kissinger played a prominent role
in setting U.S. policy in the Vietnam War in the Johnson, Ford, and Nixon administrations. In 1975 he received the
Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Le Duc Tho.
Vietminh- (League for Vietnamese Independence) formed by Ho Chi Minh in 1941. In 1946 it began a war against the
French when that nation tried to reclaim control over Indochina.
Vietcong- or the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF) was a political organization and army
in South Vietnam and Cambodia that fought the United States and South Vietnamese governments during
the Vietnam War (1955–1975). It had both guerrilla and regular army units, as well as a network of cadres who
organized peasants in the territory it controlled.