President Nixon & the Vietnam War
Election of 1968 Richard Nixon had
promised to end the war in Vietnam if he became president
Henry Kissinger▪ National Security Advisor
to President Nixon ▪ Begins secret negotiations
in 1969 with the North Vietnamese
President Nixon & the Vietnam War
Vietnamization Nixon wanted “peace
with honor”▪ Wanted to remove
American troops from Vietnam without embarrassing the country and avoid the appearance of defeat
Nixon wins the election
President Nixon & the Vietnam War
Vietnamization▪ Nixon’s plan to gradually turn more of the fighting over
to the South Vietnamese troops ▪ Wanted to give South Vietnam time to create a stable
(anti-communist) government Troop withdrawal ▪ 540,000 troops in Vietnam in 1969, only 24,000 by 1972
Mixed public opinion ▪ Many disliked Vietnamization because it took longer to
completely end America’s involvement
President Nixon & the Vietnam War
Expanding the war (secretly) While Nixon was withdrawing
troops, he was also secretly expanding the war into Laos and Cambodia ▪ Bombed Cambodia in 1969 to
disrupt the Ho Chi Minh Trail ▪ Sent American and ARVN
troops into Cambodia in 1970 and into Laos in 1971 to attack North Vietnamese military bases
▪ Renewed the bombing of North Vietnam
President Nixon & the Vietnam War
Nixon wanted to show the North Vietnamese that he was willing to expand the war into territories other than Vietnam ▪ Also wanted them to think
he was a “madman” that would do anything to stop the war
President Nixon & the Vietnam War
Atrocities and cover-ups My Lai massacre (March
1968)▪ American troops on a
search-and-destroy mission entered the village of My Lai to find Vietcong troops under the command of Lieutenant William Calley
▪ No Vietcong were found, but the American troops shot and killed 450 women, children, and elderly men
President Nixon & the Vietnam War
Calley was accused of murder in September 1969 and sentenced to life in prison; he got parole in 1974
President Nixon & the Vietnam War
Pentagon Papers ▪ Secret government
documents that told the history of America’s involvement in Vietnam going back to President Truman
▪ Published by the New York Times in 1971
President Nixon & the Vietnam War
Pentagon Papers cont.▪ Leaked by Daniel Ellsberg, a
journalist ▪ Showed that the U.S.
government had been misleading the public about the war
President Nixon & the Vietnam War
Peace talks Henry Kissinger announces in 1972 (just before the
election, what a coincidence) that peace is at hand ▪ In reality, peace talks stalled ▪ “Christmas bombing”- in December 1972, Nixon has
cities in North Vietnam bombed constantly in order to get the North Vietnamese to give in to demands, doesn’t work
President Nixon & the Vietnam War
January 1973▪ North Vietnam, South
Vietnam, and the United States reach a settlement
▪ U.S. agrees to withdraw troops and help rebuild South Vietnam
▪ Both sides release prisoners of war (POWs)
▪ Agreement does not settle the issue of the political future of South Vietnam
Vietnam post-American Involvement
North Vietnam invades South Vietnam and takes Saigon by April 1975 Americans working at
the embassy are airlifted out of the country
Some Vietnamese who were afraid of retribution (130,000) were also evacuated
Vietnam post-American Involvement
April 30, 1975 South Vietnam surrenders to North Vietnam Vietnam, after over 20 years of division, is reunited
under Communism Casualties
185,000 South Vietnamese soldiers and 450,000 South Vietnamese civilians killed
About 1 million Vietcong and NVA killed
Impact of the Vietnam War on Southeast Asia
Domino theory U.S. fear that if Vietnam
becomes communist, other Southeast countries will follow, comes true▪ Cambodia and Laos both
become Communist after 1975
Impact of the Vietnam War on Southeast Asia
In Cambodia, a communist group called the Khmer Rouge takes power in 1975 Formerly supported by
the North Vietnamese, had allowed the NVA to set up camps along Cambodia’s border
Impact of the Vietnam War on Southeast Asia
Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge Capital of Cambodia, Phnom
Penh is evacuated and people are sent to work camps known as the “killing fields”
Leader of the Khmer Rouge is Pol Pot (known as Brother No. 1)▪ Brother No. 1 wanted to
create a society free of all social institutions and become a totally agrarian society
Impact of the Vietnam War on Southeast Asia
"What is rotten must be removed”▪ Pol Pot began an
extermination program that eliminated anyone who didn’t fit in with his new society, intellectuals, businessmen, Buddhists and foreigners were all killed
1-2 million people were killed before Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia in 1979 and defeated the Khmer Rouge
Impact of the Vietnam War on Southeast Asia
The Khmer Rouge was led by Pol Pot as an insurgent group until he died in 1998; he never faced any charges
Impact of the Vietnam War on Southeast Asia
Hmong involvement in the Vietnam War Laos was supposed to be neutral in the Vietnam
War, but it was also divided between Communism and anti-Communism ▪ Royal Lao Army- trained and supported by the U.S.▪ The Pathet Lao- backed by the Soviet Union
Ho Chi Minh Trail▪ The trail went through the Laotian mountains, home of
the Hmong▪ U.S. couldn’t use ground troops in Laos because Laos was
neutral
Impact of the Vietnam War on Southeast Asia
CIA secretly begins “Operation Momentum”▪ CIA convinced the Hmong
people that they would be invaded and conquered by the Vietnamese
▪ CIA promises to help the Hmong people if they help the American troops fight the Vietnamese in Laos
▪ 30,000 Hmong troops begin fighting a ground war for the U.S.
Impact of the Vietnam War on Southeast Asia
Mission of the “secret army” under General Vang Pao (1960s)▪ Cut off supply lines on the
Ho Chi Minh Trail ▪ Guide U.S. bombing
missions▪ Rescue U.S. pilots who had
been shot down
Impact of the Vietnam War on Southeast Asia
After the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam▪ Laos becomes of communist
country in 1975▪ Hmong people who had
supported the U.S. were killed
▪ Laotian government newspaper in 1975 says "We must eradicate the Hmong minority completely."
▪ Thousands of Hmong people fled to Thailand and other sympathetic countries
Impact of the Vietnam War in the United States
Veterans Casualties ▪ 58,000 Americans killed in Vietnam, 300,000 wounded ▪ 600 POWs, many were held in North Vietnamese prisons
and tortured for years before they were released ▪ Agent Orange- exposure to chemical weapons caused
cancer and other diseases in many soldiers Post-traumatic stress disorder ▪ Caused nightmares, violent behavior, flashbacks
Impact of the Vietnam War in the United States
Political impact U.S. spent $150 billion in its failed attempt to
prevent the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia
War Powers Act 1973▪ Reaffirmed Congress’ constitutional right to declare war ▪ Presidents can’t commit U.S. troops to foreign conflict for
more than 60 days without authorization from Congress or a declaration of war