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| 1966, Jan. 31 |
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| U.S. bombing of North Vietnam resumed. | 1 |
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| Feb. 6–8 |
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| Pres. Johnson conferred with Ky and Thieu in Honolulu. Social reforms needed in South Vietnam were discussed. | 2 |
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| March 10–April 5 |
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| Widespread Buddhist protests and demonstrations were directed against the Ky regime. The unrest ended when the government (April 14) promised early elections for a constituent assembly. | 3 |
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| May 15–June 23 |
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| Armed intervention against Buddhist rebels took place in Danang and Huê, where Buddhists had burned the U.S. consulate (May 31). Buddhist leader Thich Tri Quang was arrested (June 19), which was followed by the seizure of the Secular Affairs Institute, the last Buddhist stronghold, in Saigon (June 23). | 4 |
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| June 29–July 5 |
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| U.S. planes repeatedly hit oil storage tanks near Hanoi and Haiphong. | 5 |
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| July 12 |
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| The North Vietnamese threatened to try imprisoned U.S. pilots as war criminals. Pres. Johnson warned against it (July 20). | 6 |
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| July 25 |
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| Ky urged the invasion of North Vietnam even at the cost of Chinese Communist intervention. The U.S. government was never willing to take this risk, though at the time the air war was being carried right up to the Chinese border with Vietnam. | 7 |
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| Sept. 1 |
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| Pres. de Gaulle, on a visit to Cambodia, insisted that the U.S. would have to withdraw its forces before a negotiated settlement could become possible. Hanoi rejected a U.S. proposal for mutual withdrawal (Sept. 11). | 8 |
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| Sept. 11–12 |
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| Elections for a constituent assembly were held. Despite NLF threats, over 80 percent of the eligible voters went to the polls. | 9 |
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| Oct. 24–25 |
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| At the Manila Conference, the powers allied in support of South Vietnam pledged to withdraw as their opponents withdrew. Hanoi and Beijing rejected the idea (Oct. 27). | 10 |
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| Dec. 2–5 |
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| The U.S. led intensive bombing of targets around Hanoi. | 11 |
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| Dec. 31 |
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| U.S. troop strength in South Vietnam reached 389,000. | 12 |
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