Dr. Lee Bruce Kress
VIETNAM: a TELEVISION HISTORY
“Peace Is at Hand”
According to Richard Nixon prior to becoming President, what was the American goal and how
should the nation go about achieving it?
How extensive was American bombing in Vietnam by 1968?
Discuss the start of the Paris peace talks in 1968.
How long did the talks last?
Who was represented?
Characterize the negotiations. What was the pattern?
How would you describe President Lyndon Johnson’s attitude and demeanor at the end of his
term?
What military action did he take just before the 1968 presidential election?
What pledge did presidential candidate Richard Nixon make in the election?
After Tet, where was most of the fighting?
Describe the situation in the Mekong delta.
What was the casualty rate?
American:
South Vietnamese:
North Vietnamese and Viet Cong:
Define or identify:
Vietnamization
Melvin Laird
Henry Kissinger
What was the major diplomatic preoccupation of Nixon and Kissinger, and how was the Vietnam
War affected by it?
As American troops withdrew, how did President Nixon militarily pursue the war?
When did Ho Chi Minh die?
Describe anti-war protests in the United States.
How did Nixon react to them?
What effect did the American anti-war protests have on North Vietnam?
By April 1970, how many American troops remained in South Vietnam?
Why did Nixon send American and South Vietnamese troops into Cambodia in 1970?
What was the result?
How did many American react at the Cambodian Incursion?
Identify:
Kent State University
At the time, what was the view of the majority of Americans on the war?
Discuss Nixon’s ceasefire proposal.
What was Hanoi’s response?
How did American Democratic politicians react?
Identify:
“Pentagon Papers”
Discuss the secret discussion between Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho.
Describe Nixon’s trip to China in 1972. What did he hope to accomplish?
Review the North Vietnamese March 1972 offensive.
Ow was it different from earlier fighting?
What was the result?
How did Nixon respond?
How well did this American policy work?
What was the reaction of Soviet Communist Party boss Leonid Brezhnev to the mining of
Haiphong Harbor?
Review the progress of the Kissinger Le Duc Tho peace talks.
What did the North Vietnamese demand at first?
How did they later modify those demands?
What was the position of the United States government?
How did the Thieu government react to the agreement?
Review the ensuing political maneuvering by all sides, including North Vietnamese
changes.
Identify:
Operation Enhance Plus
Why did Nixon decide to resume bombing North Vietnam in December 1972 (Christmas
bombing)?
How extensive were the bombing?
Casualties?
How were the peace negotiations affected?
What were the final terms?
How many American troops died in the Vietnam War?
When did all parties sign the agreement?
Did the struggle end at that point?
How many American airmen did the North Vietnamese hold prisoner?