Opening Assignment
• Turn in your homework to the folder.
• How do we build trust?
• How can we lose trust ?
• How does the government earn and keep
the trust of the American people?
• How does the government lose and
destroy the trust of the American people?
SECTION 5 The End of the War and
its Legacy
Learning Targets:
1. I can describe Nixon's policy of Vietnamization.
2. I can explain the public's reaction to the Vietnam
War during Nixon's presidency.
3. I can describe the end of U.S. involvement and
the final outcome in Vietnam.
4. I can summarize the war's painful legacy in the
United States and Southeast Asia.
Section 5: The End of the War and Its
Legacy
• Main Idea: President
Nixon instituted his
Vietnamization policy,
and America’s 2nd
longest war finally came
to an end.
• Why it Matters Now: Since
Vietnam, the United States
considers more carefully the
risks to its own interests
before intervening in foreign
affairs.
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Key Terms:
Richard Nixon
Henry Kissinger
Vietnamization
Silent Majority
My Lai
Key Terms:
Kent State shooting
Pentagon Papers
War Powers Act
The Pullout Begins:
• In the summer of 1969,
Nixon announced the
first US troop withdrawal
from Vietnam
• Negotiations were
underway but were not
going anywhere
• Nixon conferred with his
National Security
Advisor – Henry
Kissinger on a plan to
end the US involvement
in Vietnam
Vietnamization:
• Kissinger’s plan was
called Vietnamization
– gradual withdraw of
US troops in order for
the South Vietnamese
to take a more active
combat role in the war
• Over the next three
years, the number of
troops in Vietnam
would drop from
550,000 to 25,000
“Peace With Honor”
• The US wanted to “bow
out” of the war
gracefully
• Nixon secretly began
massive bombings in
North Vietnam, Laos,
and Cambodia to leave
the South Vietnamese in
the best possible
position
• Laos and Cambodia
housed many Vietcong
bases
Trouble Continues on the Home Front:
• Nixon was seeking to
win support for his
war policies
• He called on the
silent majority –
moderate mainstream
Americans who
quietly supported the
war effort
• Many did support the
President, not the war
The My Lai Massacre:
• In March of 1968 it was
discovered that a US platoon
massacred over 200 innocent
women and children in the
small village of My Lai (South
Vietnam)
• Lieutenant William Calley and
his men were looking for
Vietcong rebels – they didn’t
find any
• “I poured about four clips
into the group..the mothers
hugging their children…Well,
we kept right on firing.”
• Calley was convicted and
imprisoned – the others were
charged for minor offenses
The Invasion of Cambodia:
• It seemed to Americans
that the war was winding
down
• The President however
was still sending troops
into Cambodia to bring
down the Vietcong
• In response to this
invasion, 1.5 million
students protested and
closed down over 1,200
campuses
Violence On Campus:
• May 4, 1970 - Disaster
struck hardest at Kent
State University
• Four students were killed
in a clash with the National
Guard
• Ten days later another
protest at Jackson State in
Mississippi, killed two
students and wounded 12
more
• Listen to this song about
the Kent State Shootings.
The Pentagon Papers:
• Congress was furious with
Nixon for bombing and
invading Cambodia without
Congressional approval
• Congress decided to repeal
the Tonkin Gulf Resolution,
limiting Nixon’s wartime
powers
• The Pentagon Papers were
also leaked during this time –
a 7,000 page report
describing Johnson’s
escalating war plans (when
he was telling the American
people that he was pulling
troops out of the war)
• The papers also showed that
there was never a plan to end
the war as long as the North
Vietnamese persisted.
America’s 2nd Longest War Ends:
• In March of 1972, The
North Vietnamese
launched their largest
offensive since Tet
• Nixon responded with a
massive bombing
campaign against the
North Vietnamese cities.
• This did not stop the North
Vietnamese offensive
• Nixon would soon take
steps to end America’s
involvement in the war
The Final Push:
• President Nixon won
reelection with the help of the
Silent Majority but the war did
not end
• Negotiations still were at a
stalemate with the Vietcong
• Nixon decided to drop 100,000
more bombs on N. Vietnam,
pausing only on Christmas
Day
• Other world powers began to
notice the futility of the war
• On January 27, 1973, America
signed a “peace agreement”
• North Vietnamese troops
would remain in S. Vietnam –
Nixon promised to respond
with “full force” if the peace
treaty was violated.
• For America, the Vietnam War
had ended.
The Fall of Saigon:
• The war however, raged
on between North and
South.
• Within months of the
cease fire agreement,
North and South Vietnam
were fighting again
• South Vietnam asked for
help – the US sent money
• Soon after, Saigon –
South Vietnam’s capital,
was taken by the North
Vietnamese
The War Leaves a Painful Legacy:
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The Vietnam War:
58,220 American killed
303,000 wounded
North and South
Vietnamese deaths
topped 2,000,000
• The war left many
Americans cautious
toward their
government after the
deceptions
surrounding Vietnam
American Veterans Cope Back Home:
• The nation extended a
“cold hand” to the troops
returning from Vietnam
• No parades, no cheering
crowds.
• About 15% of troops were
treated for PTSD, while
many more suffered from
drug, alcohol abuse, and
even suicide
• The Vietnam Veterans
Memorial was created in
Washington D.C. in 1982
to honor those who
served in the war.
Further Turmoil in Southeast Asia:
• The Communist North
Vietnamese imprisoned
more than 400,000
South Vietnamese in
the years to follow
• Nearly 1.5 million
people fled Vietnam
• The US invasion of
Cambodia also sparked
a harsh civil war –
Khmer Rouge wanted a
“peasant society” and
executed anyone with
an education or foreign
connections
• In the end, the Khmer
Rouge killed at least
1,000,000 people
The Legacy of Vietnam:
• After Vietnam the
government would
abolish the draft
• In 1973, Congress also
passed the War
Powers Act – president
must inform Congress
of military decisions
• The war diminished
American faith in their
government