The End of the War

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The End of the War
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Setting the Scene

• Before the election he said he had a secret plan
  to get out of the war.
• A year after the election, Nixon was still
  seeking- and receiving- the support of Middle
  America.
• Also aware of the increasing opposition to the
  war.

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Nixons Vietnam Policy

• May of 68- The Paris peace talks- failed to
  produce an agreement.
• So in June 69- President Nixon announces a new
  policy known as Vietnamization- removing American
  troops and replace them with S. Vietnamese
  soldiers.
• By 1972- American troop strength dropped to
  24,000.

Sound familiar?
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What to do?

• As much as Nixon wanted to please the protesters
  at home by pulling out troops he also was still
  determined to win the war.
• Nixon orders secret bombing raids.

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The war spreads to Cambodia

• April 1970- Nixon announces that U.S. and South
  Vietnamese troops were moving into Cambodia.
• Goal was to clear out the Communist camps.
• He knew it would not win the war but it would
  help when negotiating peace.

6
The Pentagon Papers

• 1971- New York Times begins publishing articles
  about American involvement in Vietnam
• They revealed that the government had lied to
  Congress and the American people about the war.
• Presidents were making secret policy decisions
  and waging an undercover war in North Vietnam in
  the early 60s.

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Nixon calls for law and order

• Nixon wants to get away from the chaos and
  violence of the protest movement.
• He knew that antiwar protesters, the
  counterculture and student radicals had never
  appealed to many Americans. Nixon refers to them
  as the silent majority. It is time for them to be
  heard.

8
Kent State University (Ohio)

• U.S. invasion of Cambodia in 1970 fueled the
  protest movements on college campuses.
• At Kent State students react angrily , broke
  windows downtown and burned the ROTC building.

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Then

• Governor of Ohio orders the National Guard to
  Kent State.
• Tensions mount
• Students throw rocks at the Guardsmen and then
  the National Guard load their guns and put on
  their gas masks.

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Kent State continued

• They hurl tear gas at the students and order them
  to disperse.
• Guardsmen retreat to another position.
• Then suddenly they turn and begin firing on the
  students.
• 4 students are dead and 9 wounded (2 of the dead
  were not protesting)
• Similar violence also at Jackson State.

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The American Withdrawal

• The war dragged on as did the Paris peace talks.
  
• 1972 election year- Nixon announced that N.
  Vietnam had refused to accept a proposed
  settlement.
• Then N. Vietnam began a major assault on S.
  Vietnam.
• So Nixon orders the most intensive bombing
  campaigns of the war.

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Henry Kissinger- National Security Advisor

• Days before the election states that Peace is at
  hand.
• January 1973, United States, North and South
  Vietnam and the Viet Cong sign a formal agreement
  in Paris.

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Provisions of the Agreement
important

1. The U.S. would withdraw all its forces from South
   Vietnam within 60 days.
2. All prisoners of war would be released
3. All parties to the agreement would end military
   activities in Laos and Cambodia
4. The 17th parallel would continue to divide North
   and South Vietnam until the country could be
   reunited.

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Aftermath of the war in Asia

• American involvement in the war ended in 1973,
  but the fighting between North and South Vietnam
  continued for another 2 years.
• America believed that we could defend the world
  from communism. We also believed that our
  technology and money would always bring victory.
  Vietnam proved these assumptions to be false.

15
South Vietnam falls

• After the US left, South Vietnamese troops lose
  ground.
• 1975- N. Vietnam launches strikes at S.
  Vietnamese cities. With Saigon as the final
  target.
• April 1975 Saigon is surrounded.
• US evacuates 1,000 Americans and 6,000 Vietnamese
  to offshore aircraft carriers.

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• On April 30, 1975 North Vietnam conquers South
  Vietnam. Vietnam is now a single nation under a
  Communist government.

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Southeast Asia after the War

• The U.S. believes in the domino theory and with
  the North Vietnamese victory 2 dominoes will
  fall- Laos and Cambodia. But that is all.
• In Cambodia- the Khmer Rouge, a communist group
  led by Pol Pot, takes over.

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Khmer Rouge

• Declared war on anyone tainted with western ways.
  
• Killed 1.5 million Cambodians (1/4 of the
  Cambodian population)
• Many shot, starved or put in labor camps.

B.R.A.C.K.
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And in Communist Vietnam

• They force many into re-education camps
• 1.5 million flee by boat.
• Many trying to make their way to the United
  States.

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The Legacy of War

• 58,000 Americans dead
• 300,000 wounded
• 2,500 Americans listed as POWs- prisoners of war
  and MIAs- missing in action

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Its easy to die but hard to live, and well
show you just how hard it is to live. --N.
Vietnamese prison guard
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The reception home (no parades)

• This image is of a WWII parade welcoming home the
  soldiers.
• When the soldiers returned home from Vietnam
  there was no parade. Some were spit on, others
  were called baby killers
• Most wanted to get home and forget about the war.
  
• They felt unappreciated for their sacrifices.

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Counting the Costs

• This was the longest and least successful war for
  the U.S.
• We spent at least 150 billion on the war.

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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial

• This war divided our nation just like the Civil
  War.
• After many years we realized that something was
  forgotten, the veterans should be honored.
• The Wall displays every name of those who died in
  Vietnam.

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The Comparisons
This sounds like an extended response question

• There are so many comparisons between the Vietnam
  War and the War in Iraq. Lets name a few.
• We begin with a slow buildup
• We put Diem in charge of the South- then he does
  a bad job- then he is assassinated (by the US?).
  What will happen to those put in charge of Iraq?
• The US gets caught up in can we win? or how
  can we get out?
• Constant criticism at home splits the country.

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• 5. US troops have been brutal to prisoners.
• 6. Television coverage is constant
• 7. Presidential popularity falls to record lows.
• 8. Student protests are not big with the War in
  Iraq. Why?
• 9. Is this now a Civil War? Should we stay out?
• 10. Vietnamization- Iraqization?
• 11. If we leave will a new genocide begin?

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• Getting into a war is not an easy thing for any
  president to do.
• Getting out of the war is even harder.

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• Quiz Time is coming.