 After World War II, France gained control of Vietnam and called it Indochina.  Ho Chi Minh led a Vietnamese independence movement against France.  Because Ho Chi Minh was a Communist, the Chinese tried to help North Vietnam.  France was defeated in a battle at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.

 As a result of the defeat of the French, Vietnam was divided into two separate countries, North Vietnam and South Vietnam.  Ho Chi Minh led North Vietnam  Elections were to be held to reunite the country.  President Eisenhower sent 675 advisors to help South Vietnam

 Feeling that South Vietnam needed help to survive, President Kennedy increased the number of advisors to over 15,000 in  The religion of South Vietnam was mainly Buddhist while its leader, Ngo Dinh Diem was Catholic.  Under Diem, the Buddhists were treated badly.

 The US allowed Buddhist military leaders to revolt and execute Diem in  A few weeks later JFK was assassinated and Lyndon B. Johnson became the US President.  Secret fighters called Viet cong formed in the north to oppose South Vietnam.  President Johnson decided in 1964 to escalate the war.

 Because of an alleged attack on US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin, Johnson received a resolution in Congress to intensify the war.  The resolution was called the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.  In 1965, there were 25,000 Americans in Vietnam, by 1968 there were 550,000 Americans.

 In January 1968, the communists launched the Tet Offensive.  This caused Americans to question our involvement in Vietnam.  The communists in the North, shipped supplied to the Viet Cong in the South over the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  To kill the leaves on jungle bushes, the US dropped a chemical called Agent Orange.

 Agent Orange led to many health problems of Vietnam vets.  The US also bombed military targets in the North with Napalm.  In 1968 at a village called My Lai, Lt. William Colley led US soldiers in a massacre.  In 1968, Johnson did not run for reeelction, and Nixon was elected

 Anti-war demonstrations picked up and in 1970, 4 college students at Kent State were shot and killed by the National Guard.  Nixon tried to turn more of the war duties over to the South Vietnamese, this was called Vietnamization.  Secretary of State, Henry Kissenger conducted secret peace negotiations.