An Emerging Division in Public Support In addition to the democrats being blamed for the Vietnam War, Nixon ran on a campaign that promised an exit from the war Upon his election, President Nixon knew that he needed to keep his campaign promise of ending the Vietnam War With the aid of his national security advisor, Henry Kissinger, President Nixon worked to create a strategy that would help the U.S. leave Vietnam By the summer of 1969, President Nixon began to execute his policies that were designed to deescalate the conflict and American participation in it President Richard Nixon National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger

American soldier training South Vietnamese soldiers Vietnamization Vietnamization was the cornerstone of President Nixon’s de-escalation strategy The policy required the U.S. military to train the South Vietnamese, allowing American soldiers to leave the war In terms of allowing Americans to leave the war, Vietnamization was successful Between 1969 and 1972, U.S. troops in Vietnam had been reduced from 500,000 to less than 25,000 However, due to poor leadership in the South Vietnamese army, and dependency on U.S. support, Vietnamization made the conflict worse North Vietnam and the VC knew the South Vietnam army could never survive without American aid American soldier training South Vietnamese soldiers

Expanding the War into Cambodia On April 30, 1970, President Nixon announced U.S. troops had invaded Cambodia President Nixon argued that Cambodia housed North Vietnamese and VC bases which were being used to undermine Vietnamization in South Vietnam According to Nixon, Vietnamization could not continue if South Vietnam was under attack from Cambodia Many viewed the invasion as proof that Nixon had no plans to end the war Protests broke out across the U.S. in response to the invasion On May 4, 1970, a protest at Kent State University in Ohio turned violent, with national guardsmen killing 4 student protesters President Nixon explains to the American public why the U.S. needs to invade Vietnam Kent State students mourn over killed student

Peace Negotiations Begin In 1972, Nixon faced reelection By then, Vietnamization was STILL ongoing, operations were STILL happening in Cambodia, and the Kent State tragedy was fresh on the minds of the American public Wanting to win reelection, Nixon focused his efforts on ending the war By October of 1972, Nixon and Kissinger had devised a tentative peace agreement with North Vietnam WITHOUT South Vietnamese input Together, Nixon and Kissinger announced the tentative peace agreement and Nixon was able to easily win reelection in November of 1972 Newspaper promising that peace is at hand in October of 1972

The Christmas Bombings Shortly after Nixon’s reelection in 1972, South Vietnam learned about Nixon’s negotiated peace with North Vietnam The South Vietnam government refused to accept the peace agreement and pressured Nixon to revise the agreement to their liking When North Vietnam was presented with the new agreement, they backed out of peace negotiations In response, President Nixon bombed North Vietnam for 11 straight days (minus Christmas) beginning on December 18 In total, the U.S dropped 100,000 bombs that produced more explosive damage than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima Christmas Bombings over North Vietnam

The End of the War By January of 1973, world leaders, including China and the U.S.S.R. were calling on North Vietnam and the U.S. to end the war Faced with pressure from its communist allies, and the threat of continued American bombing, North Vietnam returned to negotiations On January 27, 1973, a peace treaty was signed, and on March 29, 1973, the last U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam As soon as American troops left South Vietnam, North Vietnam and the VC resumed the war In March of 1975, North Vietnam and the VC launched a final offensive South Vietnam requested support from the U.S., and received money, but not troops On April 30, 1975, South Vietnam fell to communism Newspaper Announcing Peace Treaty Newspaper Announcing Fall of Saigon

Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. The Legacy of the War 60,000 Americans killed and 300,000 wounded North and South Vietnamese deaths topped 2 million Southeast Asia was destabilized, and Cambodia was thrown into a civil war Vietnam War veterans returned home disrespected, crippled, and suffering from PTSD In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Act to limit to president’s ability to wage war – the president must now inform Congress within 48 hours of sending troops to hostile territory without a declaration of war and troops may not stay longer than 90 days without a declaration of war More importantly, the Vietnam War marked the beginning of the American public’s strong distrust of the government, a phenomenon that occurs to this day Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.