October 31

This Day in History

Also on This Day

Lead Story
Martin Luther posts 95 theses, 1517
American Revolution
King speaks for first time since independence declared, 1776
Automotive
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. opens in Hollywood, 1957
Civil War
Winfield Scott steps down, 1861
Cold War
British and French troops land in Suez Canal zone, 1956
Crime
The prime minister of India is assassinated, 1984
Disaster
Hurricane Hattie strikes Belize, 1961
General Interest
Houdini is dead, 1926
Stalin's body removed from Lenin's tomb, 1961
Hollywood
River Phoenix dies, 1993
Literary
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes published, 1892
Music
Ed Sullivan witnesses Beatlemania firsthand, paving the way for the British Invasion, 1963
Old West
The U.S. Congress admits Nevada as the 36th state, 1864
Presidential
President Clinton stumps for his wife, 2000
Sports
Earl Lloyd becomes first black player in the NBA, 1950
Vietnam War
President Johnson announces bombing halt, 1968
Thieu vows to never accept a coalition government, 1970
World War I
Third Battle of Gaza , 1917
World War II
Chiang Kai-Shek is born, 1887

Vietnam War

Oct 31, 1970:

Thieu vows to never accept a coalition government

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South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu delivers a speech on the state of the nation before a joint session of the South Vietnamese National Assembly, asserting that 99.1 percent of the country had been "pacified." The pacification program that he alluded to had been a long-term multi-faceted effort to provide territorial security, destroy the enemy's underground government, reassert political control, involve the people in their own government, and provide for economic and social reforms. Citing success in this program, Thieu said that a military victory was close at hand and that "we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel." With regard to the ongoing peace talks in Paris, the South Vietnamese president declared that the Communists viewed negotiations merely as a way to gain time and "to achieve victory gradually." He said he would never accept a coalition government with the Communists, because "countless past experiences" had already shown that such an approach would not bring peace.

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This Week in History, Oct 31 - Nov 6

Oct 31, 1968
President Johnson announces bombing halt
Oct 31, 1970
Thieu vows to never accept a coalition government
Nov 01, 1964
Military and political situation in South Vietnam deteriorates
Nov 01, 1968
Two new programs initiated in South Vietnam
Nov 02, 1963
Diem murdered during coup
Nov 02, 1967
Johnson meets with "the Wise Men"
Nov 03, 1967
Battle of Dak To begins
Nov 03, 1969
Nixon calls on the "silent majority"
Nov 04, 1969
South Vietnamese battle communists along the Cambodian border
Nov 04, 1970
U.S. hands over air base to the Vietnamese Air Force
Nov 05, 1968
Nixon wins presidential election
Nov 05, 1970
U.S. combat deaths down
Nov 06, 1963
General Minh takes over leadership of South Vietnam
Nov 06, 1970
South Vietnamese forces attack into Cambodia

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