Yaƙin Vietnam ya fara sannu a hankali a cikin Shekarar 1954 kuma a ƙarshe ya ƙare a 1975, shekaru biyu bayan Nixon ya ba da umarnin janye sojojin Amurka.
Faransawa sun yi wa Vietnam mulkin mallaka tun a shekarar 1887. Kamar Koriya, Vietnam ma Japanawa sun mamaye ta a lokacin yakin duniya na 2. Bayan Jafanawa sun fice daga Vietnam kuma, Tarayyar Soviet ta mamaye arewacin kasar yayin da Amurka ta mamaye Kudancin kasar.
Ho Chi Minh, shugaban siyasa na gurguzu, ya sami iko cikin sauri a Arewacin Vietnam, yayin da Bao Dai mai samun goyon bayan Faransa ya koma Kudu. Bangarorin biyu sun rattaba hannu kan wata yarjejeniya a Geneva, inda suka raba Vietnam tare da jan layi na 17, Ho Chi Minh ya kasance mai iko da Arewacin kasar yayin da Bao yake iko da Kudancin kasar.
Duk da yarjejeniyar, 'yan gurguzu na Vietnam da ke dauke da makamai, da aka sani da Viet Cong, sun fara kai farmaki a Kudu.
Amurka ta damu matuka game da tasirin yan gurguzu, tare da imanin cewa idan wata kasa ta kudu maso gabashin Asiya ta fada cikin tsarin gurguzu, sauran za su bi cikin sauki. Don haka, a ƙarƙashin gwamnatocin Kennedy da Johnson, Amurka ta aika da ƙarin sojoji don tallafawa Kudancin Vietnam don kare kanta daga hare-haren Viet Cong.
A watan Agusta na 1964, Arewacin Vietnamese sun kai hari kan jiragen ruwa biyu na Amurka a cikin Tekun Tonkin, kuma Amurka ta mayar da martani ta hanyar jefa bama-bamai a Arewacin Vietnam tare da tura karin sojoji a can.
Ba kamar Yaƙin Koriya ba, yakin Vietnam bai sami kulawar kafofin watsa labarai da yawa ba a Amurka, Yaƙin Vietnam ya sami ƙarin masu ɗaukar hoto ne kawai. Sabon daftarin aikin soja na Amurka ya nemi aika wa da karin matasa zuwa aikin soja kuma yakin ya kara tsananta.
An fara zanga-zangar adawa da yaki a Amurka, inda ta tursasa shugaba Johnson ya fara tattaunawar sulhu don kawo karshen yakin.
Bayan zaben 1968, Shugaba Nixon ya karbi tattaunawar zaman lafiya kuma ya fara mai da hankali kan "Vietnamization", wanda ke nufin janye sojojin Amurka da kuma samar da albarkatun da ake bukata a Kudancin Vietnam don ci gaba da yakin ba tare da sa hannun Amurka ba.
A cikin Janairun 1973, tattaunawar zaman lafiya tsakanin Amurka da Arewacin Vietnam ta ƙare tare da janyewar Amurka gaba ɗaya daga yaƙin ba.
Shekaru biyu bayan haka, Kudancin Vietnam ya fada hannun Arewacin Vietnam, kuma Vietnam ta a kasance hade a karkashin mulki gurguzu. Sakamakon yakin, an sami asarar rayuka kusan miliyan biyu na yan Vietnam da kusan 60,000 na Amurkawa.