Chronology
The Vietnam War
The Prelude to the Vietnam War
1940 Sep Japan occupies Indochina.
1941 Ho Chi Minh, a Vietnamese Nationalist and a Communist, returns to Indochina and forms the Viet Minh to fight against the Japanese and the French.
1945 Mar Bao Dai, the former emperor under French rule, proclaims independence for Vietnam, now, under Japanese rule.
12 Apr President Roosevelt dies. Harry Truman becomes President of the United States. The new President is not in a strong position to oppose the re-establishment of the British and French empires of non-white people. Roosevelt's vision of self-determination dies with him, and the emergence of the Soviet Union as a "Superpower". Truman seeks conciliation with western Europe in the face of growing Soviet power.
8 May Germany surrenders.
Jul At the Potsdam Conference, the British are designated to take the surrender of the Japanese in Vietnam south of the 16th parallel, and the Chinese Nationalists to take the surrender north of the 16th parallel.
6 & 9 Aug The United States demonstrates the Atomic Bomb at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
15 Aug Japan surrenders, ending World War II.
18 Aug Japanese transfer power in Indochina to Ho Chi Minh's Vietminh.
23 Aug Boa Dai abdicates.
2 Sep Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnam's independence. The Japanese formally sign the instrument of surrender on the decks of the battleship USS Missouri.
The French war in Vietnam
13 Sep British forces arrive to take control of south Vietnam. The British, who are concerned with reclaiming and retaining their own colonial empire, permit the French into Indochina territories under British control.
1946 Feb The French and Chinese Nationalists reach an agreement that permits the French to retake control of all Indochina under Chinese control.
Mar French and Vietminh reach accord. French recognize the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) as a "free state" within the French Union. French troops return to Indochina.
Mar-Nov Ho Chi Minh and the French disagree on what the term "free state" means. Negotiations fail. Tension increases.
23 Nov French warships bombard Haiphong.
Dec Ho Chi Minh and his forces attack a French garrison in Hanoi, and withdraw into the country side to build a rural base for operations. The French Vietnam war starts.
1947 May Under the "Truman Doctrine" the US Congress votes funds to aid Greece and Turkey against Communist insurgency.
5 Jun Secretary of State George Marshall promulgates the "Marshall Plan" to rebuild war torn Europe and construct a bulwark against Communist expansion.
Jul George Kennan of the State Department publishes an article, under the pseudonym "X," that conceptualizes the "Policy of Containment," which influences American foreign and military policies for the next fifty years.
Aug British officially recognize the independence of India and Pakistan, signaling the beginning of the end of European imperialism, and the start of inter-state conflict between the two new nations.
Dec Bao Dai, who was living abroad, negotiates and reaches an understanding with the French that grants Vietnam limited independence.
1948 Apr Tensions increase between the Soviet Union and the United States. Soviets blockade the land route to Berlin. Truman initiates the Berlin air lift to provide Berlin with food and heating fuel.
Nov Truman narrowly wins presidential election.
1949 Mar Boa Dai signs agreement with French making Vietnam an "associated state."
Apr Boa Dai returns to Vietnam to establish his government. Boa Dai is a puppet of the French, and is recognized as such.
Aug The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a mutual defense organization between the United States, Canada, and ten Western European nations, is formed. USSR explodes its first atomic weapon, shocking the Truman administration and the American people.
Oct The Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) of Mao Tse Tung defeat the Chinese Nationalist force of Chiang Kai Shek. The Nationalists escape to island of Formosa, where they remain to this day, protected by the US Navy. The People's Republic of China (PRC) is formed.
1950 Jan Ho Chi Minh declares the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) is the only legal government. The PRC, USSR, and Soviet bloc states recognize the DRV. The PRC begins supporting the DRV's war against the imperialists. The Truman administration concludes that Ho Chi Minh is part of the "Communist Monolithic" control from the USSR.
Feb US and Britain recognize Bao Dai's government. US begins supporting the French war in Indochina.
Jun North Korea invades South Korea.
Jul Truman grants $15 million in military aid to the French for the war in Indochina.
Oct The US Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) is formed in Vietnam to monitor the French and Vietnamese use of American aid, and provide intelligence to Washington.
1951 Sep US provides direct economic assistance to Vietnam.
1952 Jan French casualties exceed ninety thousand.
Jan-Apr Truman's National Security Council conceptualizes the "Domino theory," "the loss of any of the countries of Southeast Asia to Communist aggression would have critical psychological, political, and economic consequences."
Nov Eisenhower elected president.
1953 Mar Stalin dies.
Jul Armistice agreement in Korea signed. Eisenhower expands on Truman's policy of support to the French in Indochina.
Oct France recognizes the full independence of Laos.
1954 Jan US, Britain, France, and USSR agree to hold a conference at Geneva on Korea and Indochina.
Mar The Vietminh and French armies begin the climactic and decisive battle of Dienbienphu.
Apr Eisenhower decides not to intervene in the French Indochina war, "without allies and associates."
May The French are defeated at Dienbienphu. The Geneva Conference opens.
Jun Bao Dai selects Ngo Dinh Diem as prime minister.
Jul An agreement is reached to end the shooting war. Vietnam is divided at the 17th parallel, pending elections. Boa Dai's government is established in the south and Ho Chi Minh's government in the north. US does not accept the agreement, but orally acknowledges that it will not disturb the agreement. The Geneva Conference produced no lasting agreement between the conflicting "-isms" of colonialism vs. nationalism and Communism vs. Capitalism.
Sep The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), a loosely worded mutual defense pact between the US, Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and Philippines, is formed.
Oct French forces depart Vietnam.
The United States War in Vietnam: The Advisory Decade (Phase One)
1955 Jan The US starts to provide direct aid to the government of South Vietnam, and agree to train the South Vietnamese Army.
Jul Diem rejects the Geneva agreement, and refuses to participate in a nationwide election. The US supports his decision. The USSR and PRC agree to support the DRV.
Oct Diem replaces Bao Dai as head of state, and proclaims the Republic of Vietnam (RVN).
1956 The US assumes full responsibility for training and equipping the Vietnamese Army. The Military Assistance and Advisory Group (MAAG) is expanded.
1957 Oct Communist insurgency begins in South Vietnam with the organization of company size units in the Mekong delta. Guerrilla warfare and terrorism begin.
1959 May The Ho Chi Minh trail is opened. The DRV initiates continuous, direct support for the insurgency in the RVN.
Jul The first Americans are killed in the Vietnam war.
1960 Nov John F. Kennedy is elected president. Robert McNamara becomes Secretary of Defense. Kennedy adopts General Maxwell Taylor's strategic doctrine of "Flexible Response," increases the size of the US Army, and initiates the development of a counter-insurgency operational doctrine. Special Forces units, the Green Beret, are created.
Dec The DRV forms the National Liberation Front (NLF) in south Vietnam, called the "Viet Cong" by the government of the RVN--a derogatory term for Communist Vietnamese.
1961 Apr The Bay of Pigs operation, an American backed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba, fails, causing President Kennedy to believe he received bad advice from the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and to henceforth, distrust their counsel. McNamara's influence with the President increases.
May Vice President Lyndon Johnson visits Vietnam, and recommends more aid. Geneva Conference of Laos opens. President de Gaulle of France warns Kennedy that Vietnam is a "bottomless military and political swamp."
Oct General Maxwell Taylor and Walt Rostow visit Vietnam and recommend the expansion of the role of American combat troops as advisers, and a large increase in the number of US advisers. Kennedy partially accepts their recommendations, but is not willing to go as far as Taylor advises. Premier Khrushcev announces that the USSR will support Communist insurgencies fighting wars of national liberation in developing countries. Berlin Crisis, Soviets begin the construction of the Berlin Wall, and threaten to close the single western land route to Berlin.
1962 Feb American Military Assistance Command is formed in South Vietnam (MACV). American advisers increase from 700 to 1200.
May DRV and NLF organize battalions in central Vietnam. The communist occupation and transformation of south Vietnam advances.
Oct The Cuban missile crisis comes to a head with the withdrawal of Soviet missiles. McNamara's success in this crisis, causes him to adopt it as a model for managing the Vietnam conflict. The Strategic Hamlet pacification program is initiated.
1963 Jan ARVN defeated in battle with VC
Jun Buddhist monks conduct demonstrations against Diem's government by committing suicide by self-immolation. The scene is carried on national television influencing American public opinion.
Aug Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge arrives in Saigon to take charge of the situation.
Sep Lodge supports coup against Diem.
Nov Diem is assassinated by mutinous generals with the approval and support of the American government. Twenty days later, 22 November, Kennedy is assassinated (probably not by a lone gunman). Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president. Johnson retains the Kennedy team of advisers.
Dec 15,000 American servicemen are serving in Vietnam as advisers, and America has expended $500 million to aid RVN. At the same time the DRV decides to move to the next phase of the People's war, before the US intervenes directly.
Americanization of the War (Phase Two)
1964 Jan General Nguyen Khanh seizes power in Saigon. He receives the support of the Johnson administration.
Mar Secretary of State Dean Rusk, McNamara, and others meet in Honolulu and agree to increase aid to Vietnam, and begin work on a plan to apply "graduated pressure" to the Communist government DRV through bombing. Bombing is seen as a form of communication, not an instrument for the destruction of enemy's armed forces.
Jun General Taylor selected to replace Lodge as ambassador to South Vietnam.
Jul RVN begin covert maritime operations off the coast of North Vietnam.
Aug The US Destroyer USS Maddox is attacked by North Vietnamese patrol boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. Two days later a second, questionable, attack on the destroyers USS Turner Joy and USS Maddox is reported. President Johnson retaliates by bombing North Vietnam for the first time. Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin resolution empowering the president to "take all necessary measures to repel an armed attack against the forces of the United States and prevent further aggression." The resolution gave the president full discretionary power, and removed congress from its Constitutional role in regard to war and the use of the armed forces.
Oct VC attack American air base at Bienhoa. Johnson rejects the recommendation of his military advisers to retaliate. Johnson is primarily concerned with the election, and is unwilling to take actions that appear "hawkish."
Nov Johnson defeats Senator Barry Goldwater in the presidential election.
Dec VC bomb an American military billet, the Brinks Hotel, in Saigon. Johnson again rejects retaliation. Operation Barrel Roll began, air attacks in Laos.
1965 Feb VC again attack American installations. Johnson authorizes the bombing of NV. Operation Rolling Thunder, a graduated, tightly controlled bombing campaign is initiated.
Mar American ground forces are deployed to South Vietnam ostensibly to guard American air bases, billets, and installations. Two battalions of Marines are initially deployed.
Apr Johnson gives speech at Johns Hopkins University in which he offers Ho Chi Minh a vast Southeast Asian development program in return for a negotiated settlement. Johnson attempts to buy peace. The government of DRV promptly rejects his offer.
Jun The US government authorized the conduct of ground operations. The government of the RVN changes again. Air Vice Marshal Nguyen Cao Ky takes over as prime minister of South Vietnam. Regular army units of People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) are identified in South Vietnam, indicating a step-up in DRV operations.
Jul Johnson becomes dissatisfied with Taylor's advice, and reappoints Lodge ambassador to South Vietnam. Taylor opposed the deployment of American ground forces. Johnson approves Westmorland's request for forty-four additional combat battalions. The mission of American ground forces changes from the defense of American facilities and personnel to offensive operations against the VC and PAVN. Westmoreland tries to stabilize the deteriorating situation in South Vietnam.
Sep PRC Defense Minister Lin Biao indicates that the PRC will not intervene directly in Vietnam.
Oct The American 1st Cavalry Division, mounted in helicopter, battle regiments of the PAVN in the Ia Drang River Valley. The "Big Unit" war began. Eventually the PAVN withdrew. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. America's first major battle in Vietnam confirmed for Westmoreland the effectiveness of his operational and tactical doctrine, "Search and Destroy." Westmoreland adopted an attrition strategy because political leaders would not permit offensive operations into Laos, Cambodia, or North Vietnam.
Dec American forces in Vietnam number nearly 200,000. Johnson halts the bombing campaign in order to communicate to the DRV his willingness to negotiate.
1966 Jan Johnson resumes bombing.
Feb Johnson administration emphasizes to the government of South Vietnam the necessity of stability in government and the pacification of South Vietnam. The "other war" for the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people has to be won for real victory to be achieved.
Dec American forces in Vietnam number 400,000.
1967 Jan DRV Foreign Minister says US must stop bombing North Vietnam before peace talks can be initiated.
Mar Johnson meets in Guam with Ky and Thieu. DRV reveals that Johnson and Ho Chi Minh have exchanged letters.
Apr Johnson confers with Westmoreland in Washington, and Westmoreland addresses Congress the next day.
May Ellsworth Bunker replaces Lodge as ambassador.
Aug McNamara in testimony before a Senate subcommittee states that the bombing of North Vietnam is ineffective.
Sep Nguyen Van Thieu elected President and Ky Vice-President. PAVN and NLF initiate major campaign that will end with the Tet Offensive in 1968. Westmoreland fortifies Khe Sanh. Johnson again offers to stop bombing in exchange for "productive discussions."
Nov Westmoreland expresses optimism in public statements while in the US -- "the light at the end of the tunnel."
Dec DRV announce talks can begin once the bombing stops. US forces number almost 500,000. Protest against the war increases across America.
1968 Jan Tet offensive begins. During the Tet holiday the VC and PAVN conduct major offensives in three-fourths of the 44 provincial capitals of SV. The American embassy in Saigon is also attacked. US and ARVN forces launch counteroffensives. Battles are carried on national television in the United States. It appears that the US is losing the war, because all the television cameras are on one side of the battlefield and all the images are negative; and because the Johnson Administration and the Pentagon took too few actions to explain what was happening to the American people.
Feb Westmoreland requests 206,000 additional troops, based on discussions with General Wheeler. Clark Clifford replaces McNamara as Secretary of Defense. Clifford opposes Westmoreland's troop request and the expansion of the war. He seeks withdrawal, and initiates actions to get the US out of the war.
Mar Westmoreland named Chief of Staff of the Army. General Creighton Abrams designated to replace Westmoreland. Senator Robert F. Kennedy announces he will run for president. The "Wise Men," a group of distinguished American leaders, meet in Washington to advise Johnson. They advise against further escalation. Johnson announces partial bombing halt, offers to negotiate, and tells the American people he will not seek another term.
Apr Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated in Memphis. Disorder breaks out across America.
May American and DRV delegations arrive in Paris for talks. Averell Harriman leads American delegation.
Jun Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated in Los Angeles.
Aug Richard Nixon wins Republican nomination for president in Miami. Vice-President Hubert Humphrey wins Democratic nomination in Chicago where riots break-out in protest to the war. Johnson halts all bombing, and continues to seek negotiations.
Nov Nixon elected president. Nixon promises to end the war.
Dec Henry Kissinger selected national security adviser. American forces in Vietnam number 540,000, and in America the protest against the war intensifies. The nation was in turmoil, caused by the war, the Civil Rights movement, and the general feeling that America was disintegrating.
Vietnamization of the War (Phase Three)
1969 Jan Paris talks expand to include government of SV and NLF representatives. Melvin Laird replaces Clark Clifford as Secretary of Defense and adopts Clifford's withdrawal policy.
Mar Nixon begins secret bombing of Cambodia. Laird invents term "Vietnamization" to describe Nixon's policy of withdrawing American troops and replacing them with Vietnamese troops. Abrams initiates "small unit war," seeking to complete the destruction of the VC insurgency.
Apr US military personnel in Vietnam peaks at 543,400.
May President Nixon proposes peace plan that calls for the simultaneous withdrawal of US and PAVN forces.
Jun Nixon meets with Thieu on Midway island, and announces the withdrawal of 25,000 American troops.
Aug Kissinger meets secretly in Paris with the DRV negotiator Xuan Thuy.
Sep Ho Chi Minh dies. He was seventy-nine.
Oct President Nixon allows draft deferments for graduate students. Massive anti-war demonstration takes place in Washington, and other cities.
Nov Nixon gives "silent majority" speech. Another antiwar demonstration takes place in Washington. Over 250,000 demonstrators participate, the largest such demonstration to date. The My Lai massacre is revealed by the New York Times.
Dec The first draft lottery since 1942 is held by the Selective Service Board. American forces in Vietnam decline to 475,200. 40,024 US servicemen killed to date.
1970 Feb Kissinger begins secret talks with Le Duc Tho in Paris. The Nixon administration begins its policy of duplicity.
Apr Nixon announces Cambodian "incursion." US and ARVN forces attacked Communist sanctuaries in Cambodia.
May National Guardsmen (poorly trained civilians who should never have been given live ammunition) kill four students at Kent State University in Ohio during a nation-wide antiwar demonstration.
Oct Nixon proposes "standstill cease fire," but repeats mutual withdrawal plan the following day.
Nov Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial at Fort Benning, Georgia for the My Lai massacre.
Dec US military forces in Vietnam decline to 334,600. 44,245 Americans have been killed to date.
1971 Feb ARVN conduct raids into Laos.
Mar Calley convicted of the premeditated murder of South Vietnamese civilians at My Lai. He received a life sentence. Nixon reduced the sentence to three years.
Jun New York Times begins publication of the Pentagon Papers. Supreme Court rules publication is legal.
Dec US forces decline to 156,800. 45,626 Americans have been killed.
1972 Jan Nixon reveals that Kissinger has been secretly negotiating with the DRV.
Feb Nixon arrives in China.
Mar PAVN launch major offensive across the DMZ. US delegates in Paris announce an indefinite suspension of peace talks until DRV delegates and NLF representatives are willing to enter into "serious discussion."
Apr Nixon responds with intensified bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong harbor after a four-year lull. Antiwar demonstrators respond to Nixon's escalation of the bombing campaign with hundreds of protest demonstrations across the country.
Jun Break-in at the Democratic National Committee office at the Watergate complex in Washington causes the arrest of five men.
Aug Kissinger meets again with Le Duc Tho in Paris to work out agreement.
Oct Kissinger meets with Thieu in Saigon. Thieu opposes draft agreement worked out by Kissinger and Le Duc Tho. DRV announces over radio broadcast the details of the agreement. This was an effort to pressure Kissinger, who had to convince Thieu.
Nov Nixon re-elected president, defeating Senator George McGovern in a landslide victory. Kissinger presents Le Duc Tho with 69 amendments to the agreement demanded by Thieu. Talks break down.
Dec Nixon orders the intensive bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong to pressure the DRV to return to the talks. The DRV agree to resume negotiations after bombing halts. US military forces decline to 24,200. 45,926 Americans have been killed.
1973 Jan Kissinger and Le Duc Tho meet. Draft agreement initialed. Nixon halts all US offensive actions against the DRV and NLF. Peace agreement signed in Paris by the US, DRV, NLF, and SV. To get Thieu to accept the agreement Nixon made numerous promises of military and economic assistance to the government of SV. US military draft ends. Elliot L. Richardson replaces Melvin Laird as Secretary of Defense.
The Vietnamese Civil War (Phase Four)
Mar Last US troops leave Vietnam.
Apr "Last" US POW released.
Jun Watergate hearings start.
Jul Existence of White House tapes revealed.
Aug US stops bombing Cambodia in compliance with congressional prohibition. Nixon announces the appointment of Kissinger as Secretary of State.
Oct Vice President Agnew resigns. He is replaced by Representative Gerald Ford.
Nov Congress overrides Nixon's veto of a law limiting the power of the president to deploy American combat forces.
1974 Jan Thieu declares that the war has begun again. Nixon is not able to honor the promises he made to Thieu.
May House Judiciary Committee begins impeachment hearings on Nixon. Nixon is powerless to assist SV, and congress has taken control of the use of American military forces, and aid to Indochina.
Jun DRV build-up in SV intensifies in violation of the peace agreement.
Jul House Judiciary Committee votes to recommend impeaching Nixon.
Aug Nixon resigns. Ford becomes president. Nixon was proven to be a liar and a cheat, a paranoid man without honor or integrity.
Sep Ford pardons Nixon.
1975 Jan DRV offensive begins in SV. Thieu calls the US begging for assistance.
Mar Thieu abandons northern provinces.
Apr Ford calls the war "finished." US evacuates embassy in Saigon. Thieu leaves Saigon for Taiwan. Saigon is captured. The war is over. The United States lost.
1976 Nov Jimmy Carter elected president.
1977 Jan Carter pardons 10,000 draft dodgers. Total American dead 57,690.