Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Special forces attacked Buddhist pagodas across South Vietnam, including Xá Lợi in Saigon, and arrested monks and activists. The raids intensified public opposition and fractured the Diệm government’s...

South Vietnamese generals overthrew Diệm on November 1; Diệm and his brother Nhu were killed the next day. The coup followed Buddhist repression and U.S. policy shifts. A succession of unstable...

President Lyndon Johnson appointed General William Westmoreland to command the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. The appointment came amid escalating U.S. involvement and helped place the conflict...

North Vietnamese patrol boats attacked the U.S. destroyer USS Maddox during a covert-supported patrol. A second reported attack on August 4 was later shown by U.S. records to be unfounded, a...

U.S. officials reported a second attack on U.S. ships, but contemporaneous messages raised doubts about radar and sonar evidence. The episode shows how uncertain intelligence was presented publicly as...

Johnson signed the resolution after Congress passed it on August 7. The document gave the president broad authority to use force in Southeast Asia without a formal declaration of war, narrowing public...

Units led by Lâm Văn Phát and Dương Văn Đức occupied strategic points in Saigon before the attempt collapsed. The episode followed repeated military interventions and political instability in the...

National Liberation Front forces attacked Bình Giã, a Catholic resettlement village, and fought South Vietnamese units through early January. Government losses and the battle’s duration alarmed U.S....

An attack on the U.S. advisory compound at Pleiku killed U.S. personnel and wounded others. The Johnson administration used it to justify Operation Flaming Dart air strikes against North Vietnam....

The Johnson administration approved a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam. Air strikes also expanded across the wider region. Officials sought to coerce Hanoi, but the campaign brought...