1. Phones up! Be ready for notes!

2. End of the Vietnam War & Nixon

3. Roy Benavidez - Congressional Medal of Honor
Be ready to answer: What did he do to receive this high honor?

4. Treatment of Vietnam Veterans
When Mahoney flew into a California airport with other veterans, they had to be escorted by police officers who kept the anti-war protesters away from the soldiers.
"We were walking down a line, protected by the cops, but they were still spitting on us, calling us baby-killers," Mahoney said. "We were treated like we had done something wrong. The treatment at home, I think, did more damage than the war did."
Veterans who returned home had many stories like the one above. PTSD was common amongst the soldiers. Why do you think the citizens treated veterans this way?

5. Then and Now
Just a heartwarming video!

6. Who is Henry Kissinger, and why does he matter?
Nixon’s advisor on National Security and International Affairs
Both believed in Realpolitik
Political goals should be defined by national interests, not ideologies (think Cold War)
Both believed that communism was not a movement, there are just communist countries
How could this be related to why Nixon wanted to end the VIetnam War?

7. Realpolitik in Action - Nixon and China
Relations between US and China rocky - Nixon wants to smooth things over
Why bother?
Kissinger and premier Zhou Enlai chat, Nixon is going to China
1972 Nixon meets Zhou Enlai in China
Visit was a great success
important step toward normalizing diplomatic relations with China
Trade and travel increased between the countries
“It bridged the vastest ocean in the world, twenty-five years of no communication”
- Zhou Enlai

8. Nixon: A Very Green President
- EPA:
Environmental Protection Agency
- Established by executive order
- Nixon spearheaded numerous environmental policies and laws during his presidency.
- Reelection strategy or true concern?

9. OPEC & the Oil Crisis of 1973 OPEC:
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
Multinational organization that sells oil to countries, regulates oil prices
Embargo put on oil to US because we helped Israel in the Arab Israeli War = oil up 400%
Caused drastic shortages and inflated the cost of oil and gas for the U.S.
Because of U.S. support Israel was able to defeat their enemies. OPEC retaliates via an embargo. It had drastic economic effects and revealed US reliance upon foreign oil.

10. Stagflation
stagflation - persistent high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand in a country's economy.
Caused by the money spent on Vietnam War; producing inflation
Caused by rising foreign competition; cost Americans their jobs (steel and auto)
Economy went into a tailspin

11. The end…? Vietnamization
ceasefire peace agreement created, Nixon pulls troops from Vietnam
communists break ceasefire, fighting continues
last few US troops pulled from Vietnam, Saigon falls
“You have nothing to fear; between Vietnamese there are no victors and no vanquished. Only the Americans have been defeated.” - North Vietnamese Colonel, Bui Tin

12. As the war is ending, something new is surfacing...WATERGATE
Men caught trying to steal documents and tap into phones at a Democratic National Committee office in the Watergate building of Washington D.C.
Who was blamed? Why?
Nixon running for reelection 1972
CREEP - Committee to reelect the president
Kissinger one of the leads behind scandal

14. Questions
How could this affect the way citizens look at the government? Long term? Short term?
How could this affect the Republican party?
If you were Nixon, what would you have done to handle the accusations?

15. Gerald Ford Vice president turns 38th president
Republican
Pardons Nixon
what does that mean? Why was this controversial?
Continues Nixon’s policies
Détente
Doesn’t really do much else

17. Reflect and Brainstorm
What were some impacts of the war? (Think at home and abroad)
Do you believe the US's actions were correct? (Think being involved from the 1950s, ramping up troops throughout the 1960s, invading Cambodia, pulling out of Vietnam, etc)