Congress passes the War Powers Resolution

The June communiqué attempted to reaffirm implementation of the Paris agreement after continued fighting. The diplomatic effort could not resolve the conflict between the South Vietnamese parties,...

U.S. naval forces completed the minesweeping mission and departed North Vietnamese territorial waters; Task Force 78 was disbanded later in July. Clearing mines did not remove the much broader...

The cutoff took effect after Congress barred further U.S. bombing in Cambodia. Records distinguish the legal effective date from references to the last operational activity on August 15 or 16. The...

Congressional restrictions brought U.S. bombing in Cambodia to a halt. The bombing had expanded a war rooted in Vietnam into a neighboring country and inflicted major civilian and infrastructural...

Congress established reporting and time limits for presidential deployments of U.S. forces, responding to the Vietnam experience and executive escalation. The law reshaped later debates over war...

Chinese and South Vietnamese forces fought around the islands, which both governments claimed. The clash ended with Chinese control of the archipelago. Competing accounts of who initiated the firing...

A naval battle broke out as the People’s Republic of China moved to take control of the Paracel Islands, which the Republic of Vietnam also claimed. The conflict over maritime sovereignty continued...

Following the naval clash, Chinese forces occupied the Paracel Islands. Vietnam’s sovereignty dispute over the islands endured beyond the Vietnam War, illustrating how wartime partition and...

Richard Nixon resigned the U.S. presidency. The political crisis further weakened the ability of the U.S. executive to sustain promises of renewed military intervention in Vietnam, a factor understood...

North Vietnamese forces began the campaign against Phước Long Province, testing the Republic of Vietnam’s ability to defend territory without the direct return of U.S. forces. The battle became a...