End of Vietnam: Vietnam’s Legacy
- How did the outcome of the Vietnam War influence President Nixon’s foreign policy
President Nixon and Vietnamization
- Vietnamization - President Nixon’s and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s strategy for ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, involving the gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops and their replacement with South Vietnamese forces.
- “Peace with Honor” - Nixon intended ot maintain US dignity and preserve US right to negotiate at the end of the war.
- Over the next three years, the numbre of American troops in Vietnam droppde from more than 500,000 to less than 25,000
Trouble continues on the home front
- Antiwar activists opposed Nixon’s plan for Vietnamization because it did not immediately end the war
- Nixon was convinced that he had the silent majority—moderate, mainstream Americans who he believed disapproved of antiwar protesters and quietly supported the U.S. efforts in Vietnam.
- November 1969 - My Lai Massacre - 200 unarmed civilians, including women and children, were massacred by U.S. troops in May 1968.
- April 1970 - President Nixon anounced that US troops had invaded Cmabodia to clear out North Vietnamese and Vietcong supply centers.
Violence on Campus - The Kent State Massacre (May 1970)
- A massive student protest led to the burning of the ROTC building
- ROTC was a required course at most public universities during the Vietnam War. Many students opposed this and protested all across the nation
- National Guards fired live ammunition into a crowd of campus protestors who were hurling rocks at them
- The gunfire wounded nine people and killed four.
- Similar violence rocked the HBCU Jackson State in Mississippi
- National Guardsmen there confronted a group of antiwar demonstrators and fired on the crowd. 12 students were wounded and 2 were killed, both innocent bystanders.
The Pentagon Papers
- A 7000 page document leaked to the press revealing that the US government had not been honest about its intentions in the Vietnam War.
- It confirmed that the Johnson administration systemically lied to the public and Congress
The Long War Ends
- January 1973 - the United States signed an ” Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam”
- March 1973 - the last group of U.S. combat troops left for home
- April 1975 - Fall of Saigon - North Vietnamese take control of South Vietnam’s capital city.
The War Leaves a Painful Legacy
- In all, 58,000 Americans ewre kliled and some 303,000 were wounded.
- North and South Vietnamese deaths topped 2 million.
- A divided nation attempted to come to grips with an unsuccessful war.
- The nation as a whole did not celebrate its returning Vietnam veterans with parades and awards
- 15% of the 33 million soldiers who served developed post - traumatic stress disorder
Vietnam’s Legacy
- War Powers Act (1973 ) - Limits a president’s right to send troops into battle without asking congress
- Must notify congress of any troop movements within 48 hours and may only keep troops in combat zone for 90 days without congressional approval
- The Vietnam Syndrome - Americans consider possible risks to their own interest before deciding whether to intervene in the affairs of other nations
- Americans grew suspicious of a government that could provide as much misleading information or conceal many activities