Events
Ho Chi Minh's forces defeat the French at Dien Ben Phu, ending the Indochina War.The Geneva Accords establish North and South Vietnam with the 17th parallel as the dividing line.Catholic nationalist Ngo Dinh Diem emerges as the leader of South Vietnam, with U.S. backing, while Ho Chi Minh leads the communist state to the north.The National Liberation Front (NLF) is formed with North Vietnamese backing as the political wing of the antigovernment insurgency in South Vietnam. NLF would later become known as the Viet Cong.President John F. Kennedy sends helicopters and 400 Soldiers to South Vietnam and authorizes secret operations against the Viet Cong.U.S. aircraft start spraying Agent Orange over South Vietnam to kill vegetation that would offer cover for North Vietnamese guerrilla forces.President John F Kennedy Assassinated. Lyndon B Johnson steps in as President.President Johnson launches a three-year campaign of sustained bombing of targets in North Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Operation Rolling Thunder.President Johnson calls for 50,000 more ground troops to be sent to Vietnam, increasing the draft to 35,000 each month.U.S. troop numbers in Vietnam rise to 400,000.U.S. troop numbers stationed in Vietnam increase to 500,000.Huge Vietnam War protests occur in Washington, D.C., New York City and San Francisco.The Tet Offensive begins, encompassing a combined assault of Viet Minh and North Vietnamese armies. Attacks are carried out across South Vietnam, including Hue and Saigon, and the U.S. Embassy is invaded. The bloody attacks shock U.S. officials and mark the beginning of a gradual U.S. withdrawal from the region.This week records the highest number of U.S. soldier deaths during the war, with 543 American deaths.Republican Richard M. Nixon wins the U.S. presidential elections on the campaign promises to restore “law and order” and to end the draft.The Nixon administration gradually reduces the number of U.S. forces in South Vietnam,National Guardsmen fire on anti-war demonstrators at Ohio’s Kent State University, killing four students and wounding ninePresident Nixon signs the Paris Peace Accords, ending direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.North and South Vietnam are formally unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam under hardline communist rule.
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