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| 1969, Jan. 5 |
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| Henry Cabot Lodge replaced Harriman as chief U.S. negotiator at Paris. | 1 |
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| Jan. 25 |
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| The first plenary session of the expanded Paris conference was held, with both the Saigon government and the NLF represented. After extensive arguments, agreement was finally reached on seating arrangements and procedural matters. | 2 |
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| March 6 |
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| It was announced that U.S. troops in South Vietnam had increased to 541,000. | 3 |
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| May 8 |
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| Heavy Communist attacks left numerous casualties. | 4 |
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| May 14 |
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| U.S. president Richard Nixon outlined peace proposals involving the withdrawal of the major part of all foreign forces from South Vietnam within a year. The basic U.S. peace requirement, he said, was a guarantee of freedom for South Vietnam. | 5 |
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| June 8 |
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| Presidents Nixon and Thieu met at Midway. Nixon announced the beginning of U.S. withdrawal and the new policy of “Vietnamization,” that is, helping the Vietnamese in every way to deal with their own problems. | 6 |
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| Sept. 3 |
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| Death of HÔ CHI MINH. He was succeeded as president by Ton Duc Thong. Real power remained in the hands of four men: Lê Duan (first secretary of the Workers’ Party), Pham Van Dong (prime minister), Truong Chinh (chair of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly), and Vo Nguyên Giap (defense minister). | 7 |
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| Nov. 3 |
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| Nixon announced that 60,000 U.S. troops would be withdrawn from South Vietnam by Dec. 15. A more precipitate withdrawal, he argued, would allow the Communists to massacre their opponents. | 8 |
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| Nov. 20 |
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| Lodge resigned as chief delegate in Paris, in part to protest the lack of progress in the talks. Soon, the North Vietnamese delegate went on an extended leave, so that the talks remained stagnant for months. | 9 |
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