Generals launch an abortive coup against Nguyễn Khánh

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...

Congress granted President Johnson broad authority to use force in Southeast Asia after disputed reports of a second attack. The resolution became a key legal and political basis for escalation,...

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...

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...

Colonel Thảo and allied officers attempted to overthrow the military government. The plot failed, but political instability continued and Thảo remained active in later conspiracies. FRUS reports are...

U.S. aircraft launched a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam, intended to pressure Hanoi and support the South Vietnamese government. The gradual escalation devastated infrastructure...