Nixon’s
Vietnamization
1969-1970
“Peace with Honor”
Part of Nixon’s endthe-war plan was
called Vietnamization.
It involved turning over
the fighting to the South
Vietnamese as U.S.
troops were gradually
pulled out. This strategy,
said Nixon, would bring
“peace with honor.”
Nixon hoped to maintain
U.S. dignity in the face
of its withdrawal from
war.
Invasion of Cambodia
Publicly, Nixon emphasized Vietnamization: secretly, however,
he planned to widen the war--into Cambodia. For years, North
Vietnamese troops had attacked South Vietnam, then retreated
to the safety of camps in neutral Cambodia. Early in 1969, Nixon
decided to conduct a secret campaign to bomb these positions.
Violence on Campus
News of the bombing and invasion of
Cambodia provoked
outrage in the U.S.,
particularly on college campuses. On May 4, 1970, four people
were killed at a Kent State University demonstration.
Pentagon Papers
In 1971, another
incident sparked the
antiwar movement.
The New York Times
began publishing a
collection of secret
government documents
relating to the war.
Known as the Pentagon
Papers, they showed
that the government
had frequently misled
the American people
about the course of the
war.
Daniel Ellsberg
No More Will To
Fight
1971-1975
Lost Cause
Throughout the war,
American soldiers had
fought well. But as the
U.S. presence fell to
140,000, few wanted to
die for a cause that
seemed to have lost its
meaning. By the end of
1971, four times as many
Americans soldiers
required treatment for
serious drug abuse as
required medical
attention for combat
wounds.
A Cease-Fire At Last
On January 27, 1973,
a peace agreement
was signed. The last
U.S. ground forces
were withdrawn on
March 29. And soon
after, Congress
passed a bill blocking
any further U.S.
military activity in
Indochina.
POW’S
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Stirm, a returning POW, receives
a warm welcome from his family in 1973. The longest-held
Vietnam POW was Lieutenant Everett Alvarez, Jr., of
California. He was imprisoned for more than eight years.
On April 30, 1975, full
columns of NVA soldiers
entered Saigon. As the last
Americans in Vietnam
scrambled aboard any aircraft they could claw their
way onto, the Communists
that the U.S. spent
two decades
fighting finally
succeeded in
freeing Vietnam
of foreigners
Fall of Saigon
The Legacy of Vietnam
*More than 58,000 killed,
300,000 wounded and 2,300
missing and presumed dead
*More cautious outlook on
foreign affairs– Vietnam
Syndrome
*More cynical about the
government
*Anti-war demonstrations
resulted in violence and
even death
*Policy changes were made,
such as the War Powers Act
and abolition of the draft