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9.2- Nixon and Vietnamization

Added Mar 18, 2019 •

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was Richard Nixon took office in 1969 the biggest issue he faced with the war in Vietnam the Vietnam War was very unpopular war with the people of the United States when Nixon took office with only about 30% of Americans supporting us intervention in Vietnam Vietnam would be difficult and what are the first issues you would have to do with as president of the United States Nixon knew that he needed to negotiate a peace but North and South Vietnam could not agree on turn both were to Maddie too much and they couldn't come to an agreement what withdrawal was necessary security advisor Henry Kissinger to planned withdrawal from Vietnam a Harvard graduate architect of realpolitik and date on the planet came out it was called Vietnamization Vietnamization would be a gradual withdrawal of US troops allowing South Vietnam to take a larger role in The Conflict by August of 1969 over 25,000 troops have returned home and over the next 3 years 25,000 troops remained in Vietnam to put that into perspective at the peak of the conflict the United States had over 500000 troops in Vietnam was what he called Peace With Honor he wanted to maintain us dignity I withdrawing from the war I never go for Nixon was to maintain us clap at the negotiating table maintaining has demanded the South Vietnamese government stay intact in order to prove that he was willing to do anything to negotiate peace begin bombing campaigns on the neighboring countries of Cambodia and Laos because they were Viet Cong sanctuaries Nixon's call the supersuede the enemy using what Nixon described as the madman theory he wanted them to believe he would do anything to end the war this method of negotiating a peace was far from the Peace With Honor than Nixon describe get extended warranty Avery innocent countries in the United States people were ashamed of the action the United States government actions with Vietnamization for continuing to drop so Nixon call on the voice of the silent majority to support the president of American support of the president the war still divided the nation there were a few events that caught the attention of Americans and prove the horrors of the war the first was the me Lai massacre in November of 1969 Americans learned of the events that happened in the small village of me life Lieutenant William calling American soldiers massacred civilians in the village while searching for Viet Cong members despite the fact that the soldiers found no sign of the Vietcong US troops shot and killed more than 200 including women children and the elderly soldiers insisted that they were innocent from any crime because they were just following orders of their commanding officer Lieutenant Colin 25 army officers were charged with crimes but only call it was convicted and imprisoned another event the shock Americans was the invasion of Cambodia in 1970 despite the withdraw troops from Vietnam Nixon ordered troops into Cambodia claiming that they were attempting to clear out North Vietnamese troops and Supply Centers from Cambodia in his own defense Nixon States quote if when the chips are down and world's most powerful Nation axe pitiful helpless giant the forces of totalitarianism in Anarchy will threaten free Nations throughout the world 1.5 million students closed down over 1,200 College these protests led to a disaster at Kent State University in Ohio on May 4th 1970 a massive student protest broke out around the ROTC building which was eventually burned down by these protesters the mayor called in the National Guard and during the protest the guards fired into a crowd of protesters who were throwing rocks at them South Philly right the gunfire wounded night and killed for including to not participating in the rally the mostly all black college of Jackson State in Mississippi God was once again called in and when several bottles were held at them they open fire injuring 12 and killing two men invaded without even notifying Congress Congress to repeal the Tonkin Gulf resolution which have been passed under President Lyndon Johnson effectively removing Nixon's ability to unilaterally control the forces in Vietnam without Congressional approval and even more when Former Defense department worker Daniel Ellis a 7000 page document that became known as the Pentagon papers this document was written by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1968 to enter the war even before Lyndon Johnson promise but he wouldn't send troops to Vietnam that the government always plan to fight in Vietnam to stay out of the conflict the document also revealed that there was as the North Vietnamese persisted the fight papers confirm the feelings of many Americans that the government had not been honest about its War intentions and it led to a massive breakdown in trust between the Nixon Administration and the American public are 1972 the war had become a scale me and 60% of Americans believe United States withdraw from the war so on October 26th of 1972 after meeting with North Vietnamese officials Henry Kissinger in the house to the American people that peace is at hand despite Nixon struggle for what the war he won reelection in 1972 in Atlanta during the campaign he promised peace in Vietnam but when negotiations came pieces hard to come by the north rejected cousin just planned and his talks broke off Nixon Unleashed bombing campaigns in two major cities in North Vietnam this campaign became known as the Christmas bombings were over 100,000 tons of bombs were dropped over 11 days only stopping on Christmas then on January 27th 1973 the warring parties signed the agreement on ending the war in restoring peace in Vietnam today have concluded an agreement the end of the war and bring peace with honor in Vietnam and in Southeast Asia but most importantly for Americans the war ended the Vietnam War placed a heavy toll on all the countries that participated 58,000 Americans were killed and 303 were wounded in addition to another war in Cambodia in America divided patient had to come to grips with an unsuccessful war in which many of its citizens lost their lives were caused most didn't understand this conflict let men in America with a cynical attitude towards their government for the first time following a War veterans returning home we're not treated as but met with hostility from a bit of America many of the veterans returning home did not want to enter the war in the first place but they were still vilify for the actions that their government force them into 15% of the 3.3 million soldiers in the war develop PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder recurring nightmares about the war and other suffered severe headaches and memory lapses other vets turn to drugs or alcohol to cope while thousands more committed suicide many citizens return home with cancer from agent orange and other chemicals used in the war in an effort to honor those who served in the war in 1982 the US government unveiled the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC many vets and families of vets visited the memorial and found it help the healing process although the United States that are removed itself more Vietnam remained in turmoil and the north eventually took over all of Vietnam when it took the southern capital of Saigon in March of 1975 despite the efforts of the United States to help fight communism in Vietnam the nation Bell anyway making the word failure in the eyes of American the word did however result in some changes in the United States government first due to the anti-war and Nancy drops Sentiments of its citizens united states abolished the draft additionally in an attempt to limit the president's war-making Powers Congress passed the War Powers Act the War Powers Act stated that a president must inform Congress within 48 Hours of sending forces into a hostile environment without a declaration of war in addition to choose may not remain there for more than 90 days unless Congress approves of the action or declares war attention of the law has great merits but it's very difficult to enforce due to the fact that when soldiers and resources have been allocated to a region it is very difficult to get them back due to this the War Powers Act has never truly been effective in a broad sense the war changed America to the Core the stress of the government when it came to war and generally Americans have become more anti-war than before the conflict in Vietnam people felt that the Johnson and Nixon administration had lied to them and coupled with other scandals during the administration hippopotamus feet that their government was there to protect her knee then during the height of the Eisenhower and Kennedy Administrations

Uploaded by Mark Lovein.

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9.2- Nixon and Vietnamization

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