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29.4 The War Ends. The Vietnam war. Winning the War. During his campaign, Nixon promised he would end the Vietnam War Along with National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger , he devised plans to fulfill this promise - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
THE VIETNAM WAR29.4 The War Ends
Winning the War During his campaign, Nixon promised he
would end the Vietnam War
Along with National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, he devised plans to fulfill this promiseIn 1969, Kissinger began secret peace
negotiations with NV revolutionary Le Duc Tho (LAY duhk TOH)
Vietnamization The goal: “Peace with honor”
Vietnamization – Turning over more of the fighting to the South Vietnamese army while gradually bringing US ground troops homeNixon hoped this would give South Vietnamese
leaders enough time to create a stable anti-communist government ○ This way, he could avoid the appearance of an
embarrassing defeat
Cutting Back Troops in Vietnam
When Nixon took office in 1969, there were 540,000 U.S. troops stationed there
By the end of 1972, the number had been reduced to just over 24,000
While most people opposed Vietnamization because it didn’t end the war immediately, Nixon was convinced that the “silent majority” supported it
Laos & Cambodia While he withdrew troops
from Vietnam, Nixon also secretly expanded the war
In early 1969, he ordered the bombing of Cambodia with the goal of disrupting supply lines to the Ho Chi Minh Trail
Nixon concealed these attacks from the American people – including members of Congress and some key military leaders.
Laos & Cambodia The war expanded further in 1970, when Nixon sent
U.S. and ARVN troops into Cambodia and Laos to destroy Vietnamese army bases
Nixon then renewed the bombing of North Vietnam, hoping to pressure the country’s leaders into seeking peace The Madman Theory – “I want the North Vietnamese to
believe that I’ve reached the point where I might do anything to stop the war.”○ Unfortunately for Nixon he, like his predecessor, under-
estimated N.V. resolve, which even survived the death of Ho Chi Minh
The Kent State Massacre May 2, 1970
Antiwar demonstrators at Kent State University set fire to the campus ROTC building
The governor of Ohio sent National Guard troops to control the situation
On May 4, students gathered on campus for a rally but were ordered to disperse
Several students began to shout and throw rocks and the officers opened fire, killing four and injuring nine others○ Some of those who were shot were not even protesting, just passing
by on the way to class
Murder at Jackson State College In Mississippi nine days later, police
fired at protesters inside a dorm, killing two students and wounding nine
Americans were horrified; professors and students went on strike and campuses shut down temporarily
Clearly, the antiwar movement continued to grow, and millions of people took part in a nationwide day of protest Returned veterans even threw down
their war medals to show how strongly they opposed continued involvement
Radical Protests A small minority of
protesters believed that peaceful demonstrations weren’t doing the job
They began turning to violent measuresThe “Weathermen” set off
more than 5,000 bombs in the New York City police department, the Pentagon, and the Capitol building
The Weathermen
The My Lai Massacre is Revealed In late 1969, Americans learned of a
secret search-and-destroy mission in My Lai
The My Lai Massacre took place in 1968, U.S. troops in search of Vietcong fighters ended up killing 450 women, children, and elderly men when none could be found
“We weren’t in My lai to kill human beings . . . We were there to kill ideology that is carried by – I don’t know – pawns.”
- Lieutenant William Calley
The 1972 Election While Nixon campaigned for re-election,
South Dakota Senator George McGovern campaigned for the Democratic nomination
McGovern hoped the passing of the 26th Amendment would increase his chances of winning the election, but it did not
What did the 26th Amendment accomplish?
A Peace Agreement To try and force the North Vietnamese to make
concessions, Nixon ordered round-the-clock bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong in December of 1972The “Christmas bombing” was not successful
In January 1973, the United States agreed to withdraw and help rebuild VietnamIt did not deal with the political future of South Vietnam
The Legacy of Vietnam Two years after U.S. troops left,
North Vietnam invaded the South which surrendered shortly thereafter
The fall of Saigon did not end the fighting in Southeast Asia however, the Khmer Rouge, a communist group, took control of Cambodia and went on a killing rampage referred to as The Cambodian Genocide
Effects on Southeast Asia 185,000 South Vietnamese soldiers and 450,000
South Vietnamese civilians were killed in war
Vietcong and NVA deaths were estimated at about 1 million
After the war, Vietnam suffered from severe environmental devastation as the U.S. dropped more than 8 million tons of bombs
Effects on Veterans 58,000 Americans were killed in Vietnam
600 others were held as POW’s who spent several years in North Vietnam jails and often endured long periods of torture and solitary confinement
2,500 soldiers were reported MIA
300,000 soldiers were injured
Many soldiers were exposed to high levels of dangerous defoliants which later lead to cancer and birth defects in their children
Many soldiers also suffered from PTSD
The War’s Political Impact In the end, the United States failed to
prevent a communist take-over of Vietnam, despite spending $150 billion
The War Powers ActMany Americans sought to contain the power of
Presidents to wage “undeclared” wars after Vietnam
The War Powers Act re-affirmed Congress’s exclusive ability to officially declare war