Johnson believed that the key to success in the war in Vietnam was to frighten North Vietnam's leaders with the possibility of full-scale U.S. military intervention. In January 1964 he approved top-secret, covert attacks against North Vietnamese territory, including commando raids against bridges, railways, and coastal installations. Johnson also ordered the U.S. Navy to conduct surveillance missions along the North Vietnamese coast. He increased the secret bombing of territory in Laos along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a growing network of paths and roads used by the North Vietnamese to transport supplies into South Vietnam.In February 1965 the U.S laun

By 1968, things had gone from bad to worse for the Johnson administration. In late January, the North Vietnamese launched coordinated attacks against the major southern cities. These attacks were known as the Tet Offensive and were designed to "break the aggressive will" of the Johnson administration and force Washington to the bargaining table. The Communist Party believed that the American people were growing war-weary and that they could humiliate Johnson and force the United States to hand over south Vietnam. Communist forces suffered tremendous casualties in the South. Furthermore, several leading southern Generals thought the plans for the Tet Offensive were too risky and this created a strain in relations between northern and southern Communists. In any event, in late March 1968, a disgraced Lyndon Johnson announced that he would not seek the Democratic Party's re-nomination for president and hinted that he would go to the bargaining table with the Communists to end th!

Having no faith that the Paris treaty would be implemented, the North Vietnamese set 1975 as the year to mount their final offensive. They believed it would take at least two years; the rapid collapse of the south was therefore a surprise even to them. After the initial attack by the North Vietnamese in the Central Highlands northeast of Saigon on January 7, the south immediately began to fall apart. On March 25 the ancient imperial city of Hue fell; then on March 29, Ðà Nang, the former U.S. Marine headquarters, was overtaken. On April 20 Thieu resigned, accusing the United States of betrayal and His successor was Duong Van Minh. On April 30 Minh issued his unconditional surrender to the North. Almost 30 years after Ho Chi Minh's declaration of independence, Vietnam was finally unified.

. Likewise, Hanoi convinced leaders of the North th

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