1968 campaigned on a pledge to end the war but to secure “peace with honor”

•1968 campaigned on a pledge to end the war but to secure “peace with honor”

Even as he began the gradual withdrawal of troops and reduced the number of new draftees, he pursued “Vietnamization”: shifting the bulk of the combat to South Vietnam (as they became better trained and capable of assuming responsibility).

Richard M. Nixon and Vietnam

“Peace with honor” It was important to Nixon for

the U.S. to exit the war honorably…to avoid the humiliation of having lost the war

The Paris Peace Talks had begun before Nixon took office but negotiations were difficult and often stalled

Nixon appointed Henry Kissinger to head much of the negotiations

Main goals of the negotiations:

U.S. Wanted:

All communist troops out of So. Vietnam

Return of American POWs

N. Vietnamese wanted:

Immediate withdrawal of US troops

Coalition gov’t. in the South to include Vietcong

Vietnamization

Refusing to accept N.Vietnam’s demands for peace, Nixon continued his policy of Vietnamization…AND

To stop the flow of supplies to the Vietcong in the south, he ordered the secret bombing of the Ho Chi Minh Trail

The HCMT ran thru neighboring Cambodia

Ho Chi Minh Trail

1970 Trying to get the peace talks moving,

Nixon ordered U.S. troops to attack the Vietcong and NVA (North Vietnamese Army)

across the border into Cambodia. Immediate reaction from the anti-war

movement at home: infuriated, it blasted Nixon for widening the war !

Kent State University

Student protesters set fire to the ROTC building…

The Ohio governor called in the Nat’l. Guard On May 4, 1970 the 2 sides confronted one

another: students threw rocks and bottles Guardsmen answered by firing 65 shots into

the crowd, killing 4 and wounding 13 others

OHIO performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

My Lai Massacre March, 1968: Lt. William

Calley ordered the village of My Lai destroyed…hundreds of civilians murdered

Calley claimed he was following orders

Life magazine published photos of the event…American public outraged

Calley convicted by military court

Entire episode was more fuel for the “Stop the War” movement

The Pentagon Papers

Classified gov’t. documents on U.S. in Vietnam

Docs leaked to the NY Times

Co-author Daniel Ellsberg at the eye of the storm

Nixon tried to block publication (NY Times v. United States)…Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Times

End of the War Paris Peace Accords: January, 1973 American troops coming home N Vietnam to keep troops in S vietnam NLF (the Vietcong) to become legit political

party in S. Vietnam N. Vietnam to return American POWs

(Sen. John McCain was one of them)

Peace finally…or not

Spring of 1975, N. Vietnamese launched attacks against the South

Without U.S. support, the ARVN was doomed American Embassy in Saigon overrun Vietnam unified under 1 flag…the flag of

communist North Vietnam

Evacuation of the US Embassy: Saigon 1975

http://www.5min.com/Video/Learn-about-The-Vietnam-War-1954---1975-Map-117517574