26.3 – THE WAR WINDS DOWN
• Steps taken by Nixon once in office:
1.
Appoints Henry Kissinger and
approves the policy of linkage
-
What was linkage?
Who was Le Duc Tho?
2.
Vietnamization – gradual withdrawal
of U.S. forces as South Vietnam took
on more fighting
3.
Increased bombing of North Vietnam
4.
Secretly bombed Vietcong bases in
Cambodia and sends troops into
Cambodia
Richard Nixon
26.3 – TURMOIL AT HOME
• Nixon’s policies, and events in
the war, created more division
and debate at home
• Massacre at My Lai (1968)
• American platoon killed unarmed
civilians in the hamlet of My Lai
• Led many more Americans to call
for an end to the war; became a
symbol/rallying cry of doves
• PBS vid
• PBS pictures
• Massacre at Hue
26.3 – TURMOIL AT HOME
• Invasion of Cambodia (1970)
• U.S. invades; leads to many protests at
home
• Protestors saw this as a “widening” of
the war (U.Streaming vid)
• Kent State University (May 4, 1970)
•
Ohio Nat’l Guard was called in and
fired on demonstrators; 4 students
were killed
•
2 days later two African-American
student demonstrators were killed in
Mississippi
• Ohio song and vid
• CCR Fortunate Sone
• Billy Joel Goodnight Saigon
26.3 – TURMOIL AT HOME
• Pentagon Papers (1971)
• Documents leaked to
the NYT that showed:
a. Some in the admin.
doubted the war while
defending it
b. Abuse of power
c. Misleading of the
public
---big picture – was the
gov’t being dishonest
about the war?
26.3 – U.S. LEAVES VIETNAM
• April 1972 – Nixon dropped
the major demand on NV
(what was it?)
• Nguyen Van Thieu – the
president of SV would not
agree at first, he eventually
did
• January 27, 1973
• Agreement ending the war is
signed
• American troops leave
Vietnam
• The war is over for America,
but not for the Vietnamese
Nguyen Van Thieu
26.3 – SOUTH VIETNAM FALLS
• Peace agreement
collapsed in 1975
• Congress refused to give
Ford authority to aid SV
• April 30, 1975 – SV’s
capital city of Saigon
fell; renamed Ho Chi
Minh City – the war is
over
Gerald Ford – President after
Nixon (R)
26.3 – LEGACY OF VIETNAM
• About 58,000 died; over
300,000 injured (U.S.)
• About 1 million
Vietnamese died
• Cost about $170 billion
for the United States
26.3 – LEGACY OF VIETNAM - SOLDIERS
• Psychological trauma;
dealing with it when
home
• War was seen as a loss
• Poor treatment of
returning soldiers
• Few parades,
celebrations, Many
POWs (prisoners of
war) and MIA (missing
in action)
• The Wall was
dedicated in 1982
• Wall vid
26.3 – LEGACY OF VIETNAM
1. War Powers Act (1973)
- Know what it did (p.903)
2. Loss of national confidence?
3.
Questioning of our role in
the world…should we be
more isolationist?
4.
Is containment better than
negotiation or vice versa?
5.
Increased cynicism regarding
the government
6.
Boat people