Transcript The Cold War From 1963-1975 – Part III

Vietnam War – Part III
Nixon-Vietnamization
Vietnamization
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Tet provided the justification
for U.S. troop withdrawals
Plan was to withdraw the
540,000 U.S. troops in South
Vietnam over an extended
period
The South Vietnamese, with
American money, weapons,
training, and advice, could
then gradually take over the
burden of fighting their own
war
Between 1968 and 1972,
American troop strength
dropped from 543,000 to
39,000
Nixon Doctrine & Vietnamization
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Nixon Doctrine (aka Guam Doctrine) July 1969 The Doctrine
argued for the pursuit of peace through a partnership with
American allies. Motivated by declining public support for
Vietnam War
In Nixon's address to the Nation on Vietnam November 1969
he said:
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First, the U.S. will keep all of its treaty commitments.
Second, we shall provide a shield if a nuclear power threatens the
freedom of a nation allied with us or of a nation whose survival we
consider vital to our security.
Third, in cases involving other types of aggression, we shall
furnish military and economic assistance when requested in
accordance with our treaty commitments. But we shall look to the
nation directly threatened to assume the primary responsibility for
providing for its own defense
Dove Reaction to Vietnamization
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Doves (antiwar movement)
Massive protest on the Boston
Common in October 1969 with
100,000 and 50,000 next to the
White House
Nixon tried to appeal to the
“silent majority” (mainstream
working class Joes) who he
believed supported the war
Unleashed the vice-president to
attack the “nattering nabobs of
negativism” (doves)
Called student antiwar
demonstrators “bums”
Reality of the Vietnam War
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By January 1970, the Vietnam
War:
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Soldier fought against:
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Was the longest in American
history
40,000 killed
250,000 wounded
3rd most costly war
Became very unpopular
Vietnamese enemy
Booby traps
Hot jungles and terrain
Couldn’t determine foes
Boredom in remote bases led to
low moral and drug use. (Often
overstated)
Cambodian Campaign
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Nixon expanded the war when he
ordered the bombing & invasion of
Cambodia in 1970 (without
Congressional consent)
The goal was to clear out NVA and VC
camps on the border, from which the
enemy was mounting attacks on South
Vietnam
Nixon’s actions brought chaos and civil
war in Cambodia and a fresh wave of
protests at home
Allied military operations failed to
eliminate many communist troops or to
capture their elusive headquarters
Khmer Rouge (Communists) win the civil
war and take over Cambodia
Kent State May 4th, 1970
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Since Nixon’s election and promise to end the war: My Lai
was exposed, the draft lottery started, & Cambodia was
being bombed
In Ohio, three days of unrest led to students burning the
army ROTC building on campus in protest of the Cambodian
Campaign
In response, the governor of Ohio ordered the National
Guard to Kent State
When students threw rocks and empty tear-gas canisters at
guardsmen , they fired into the crowd of protesters , killing 4,
wounding 9
Jackson State May 15th 1970
• In Mississippi, similar violence
broke out
• A confrontation between students
and police left two students dead
and 11 wounded
• The outbreaks of violence against
students shocked the nation
Pentagon Papers
• June 1971, State Department
official, Daniel Ellsberg, leaked a
study to the The New York Times
called the Pentagon Papers.
• New York Times Co. v. United
States. Supreme Court decided 6-3
that the injunction to stop
publication of the papers was
unconstitutional
• "I felt that…as a responsible citizen, I
could no longer cooperate in
concealing this information from the
American public. I did this clearly at my
own jeopardy and I am prepared to
answer to all the consequences of this
decision" –Daniel Ellsberg
Pentagon Papers
• Papers revealed:
– Kennedy administration was
involved in Diem coup and
assassination
– The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
had been prepared a month
before the Maddox incident
– The U.S. destroyers had been in
North Vietnamese waters trying
to land marines of the South
Vietnamese Army on the shore
to engage in acts of sabotage
– Carpet bombing in Laos and
Cambodia
Continued Antiwar Discontent
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Antiwar protestors were partly pleased
when:
– Congress repealed the Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution
– 26th Amendment was passed in
1971 – lowering the voting age to 18
Easter Offensive
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Spring 1972, NVA and NLF forces launch the Easter
Offensive, a massive conventional invasion of South
Vietnam.
The NVA and NLF quickly overran the northern provinces
and attacked from Cambodia, threatening to cut the country
in half.
U.S. ground troop withdrawals continued and the ARVN
folded, but American airpower halted the offensive.
It became clear that without American airpower South
Vietnam could not survive. The last remaining American
ground troops were withdrawn in August.
Peace In Vietnam?
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After the 1972 election,
Nixon escalated bombing
of North Vietnam
By the end of the year, the
western half of South
Vietnam was in the hands
of the Viet Cong
Nonetheless, the bombing
forced the North
Vietnamese to agree to
cease-fire arrangements
on January 23, 1973
Peace In Vietnam
• Nixon said the cease-fire
agreements amounted to
“peace with honor”
• Paris Peace Accords
October 1972
• North Vietnam was more
willing to negotiate after
the failure of the Easter
Offensive, continued U.S.
bombing in the north,
détente between U.S. and
U.S.S.R. and Nixon
opening diplomatic
relations with China
Peace In Vietnam
• In January 1973, the U.S., South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and
the Viet Cong signed the Paris Peace Accords. Among the
provisions in the agreement were:
– All U.S. forces would be withdrawn
– All prisoners of war would be released
– An international force would keep the peace
– The government in Saigon would seek a political settlement
with the NLF
– The South Vietnamese would have the right to determine
their own future
– The 17th parallel would divide the country until it could be
reunited by “peaceful means”
American Withdrawal
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The Paris Peace Accord did not
end the war between North and
South Vietnam!
Fighting continued as both sides
violated the truce
In the spring of 1975, North
Vietnam launched new offensive,
Campaign 275, against the
South
South Vietnam president,
Nguyen Van Thieu, requests
U.S. aid to resist the communist
offensive.
Defeat of South Vietnam
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President Ford (Nixon has
resigned due to the
Watergate scandal) was
powerless because:
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Two years before,
Congress passed the
War Powers Act, limiting
the President’s ability to
commit U.S. troops
without congressional
approval
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Ford asked for military
aid for South Vietnam,
Congress refused
Fall of Saigon
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NLF and NVA forces
advance on Saigon
residents begin to panic
in fear of Communist
reprisals against anyone
deemed a counter
revolutionary. (Hue 1968
mass graves)
April 3, Operation
Babylift begins
evacuating 2000
Vietnamese orphans,
and Operation New Life
evacuates 11,000
refugees under fire by
NVA artillery
Vietnam United
• Operation Frequent Wind
begins the final evacuation of
the U.S. Embassy in Saigon
• The last American troops
were evacuated by helicopter
on April 29, 1975
• By early May, the South
Vietnamese capital of Saigon
fell
• A military government was
installed and on July 2, 1976,
the country was united as the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
• Collaborators with the U.S.
either fled or were interned in
prison camps
War Powers Act of 1973
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Proposed in response to revelations that Nixon ordered
continued bombing of Cambodia after the 1973 cease-fire
agreement and Nixon’s veto of measures passed by
Congress to stop the bombing
Nixon’s veto of the War Powers Act was overridden by
Congress, it required the president to:
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Within 48 hours of committing American forces to combat
abroad, the President must report to Congress what he
is doing and why
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In 60 days, if Congress doesn’t approve or extend the
time, then the troops must be withdrawn. 30 more days
are allowed for the safe withdrawal of troops
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Congress may end combat commitment at any time by
passing a concurrent resolution
What Happened To Cambodia?
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In 1975, Cambodia fell to the
Khmer Rouge,Communist.
Khmer dictator, Pol Pot, killed
anyone remotely suspected of
being pro-Western
2 million Cambodians (1/4 of
the population) were shot, while
the rest died of starvation,
disease, or mistreatment in
labor camps
He was forced from power after
a Vietnamese invasion in 1978,
followed by a military
occupation that lasted for a
decade
Legacy of the War in Vietnam
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Longest U.S. war (10 years combat, 30 years
treasure)
Only war the U.S. clearly lost
Death estimates Combatants:
– 58,000 Americans dead; 300,000 wounded
– 900,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong dead; 2
million wounded
– 225,000 South Vietnamese dead; 550,000
wounded
2.5 million civilian deaths (combined north and south)
The U.S. would spend millions of dollars locating
troops MIA or still being held as POWs
Legacy of the War
• More bombs fell on Vietnam than had fallen during
WWII and the Korean War
• 150 billion dollars (nearly 1 trillion 2007)
• Landscape was marred from bombing
• Birth defects from use of Agent Orange
• With the North Vietnamese victory, Laos and
Cambodia fell to Communism
Legacy of the War
• Millions of Vietnamese (500,000 went to the U.S.),
Laotians, and Cambodians fled their country by boat
to escape communism
• American troops were not welcomed home as that
had been during WWII (no big parades)
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• America lost self-esteem, confidence in its military
prowess, and economic power
Legacy of the War
• There was distrust between the U.S. government and
the American people. Credibility gap.
• Ended LBJ’s presidency and the Great Society
• Added to Nixon’s unpopularity as he came under
investigation for the Watergate cover-up
• The war made the U.S. unpopular in the less
developed states and world public opinion
• Vindictive U.S. policy ensured that Vietnam would
continue to suffer economically because of a trade
embargo
Reconciliation
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In 1982, a Vietnam
Veterans Memorial was
completed in
Washington, D.C. to give
veterans a sense that the
war was worth something
and to help heal the
wounds of the war
In 1994, the U.S. ended
an American trade
embargo against Vietnam
In 1995, the U.S. agreed
to restore full diplomatic
relations with Vietnam
THE END