Nixon and the Vietnam War

 A MAP

VIETNAM WAR TIMELINE

• 1954 French defeated at the battle of Dien Bien Phu. Agreed to an international Conference on the future of Vietnam.
• 1954 Geneva Conference ‑ Vietnam divided along the 17th Parallel:
• 1954 South‑East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) established to protect the independence of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
• 1955 Last French troops leave Vietnam.
• 1956‑60 US sends arms and millions of dollars to South Vietnam, fearing a take‑over by the Communist North.
• 1961 President Kennedy orders first US military assistance to South Vietnam.
• 1963 Kennedy assassinated. Johnson becomes President.
• 1964 North Vietnamese attack on US ships in Gulf of Tonkin.
• 1964 Tonkin Gulf Resolution passed, allowing US attacks on North Vietnam.
• 1965 US Air Force starts bombing targets in North Vietnam.
• 1965 Internal DOD memo on US war aims:
• 70% --To avoid a humiliating US defeat (to our reputation as a guarantor).
  20%--To keep SVN (and then adjacent) territory from Chinese hands.
  10%--To permit the people of SVN to enjoy a better, freer way of life.
• 1967 Anti‑war demonstrations begin in the USA.
• 1968 Tet offensive inflicts heavy casualties on US army. LBJ drops out of reelection race.
• 1968 Nixon elected President promising "peace with honor."  The Chennault Affair
• 1969 US fighting troops reach their maximum strength. Peace talks begin.
• 1969 - President Nixon orders a "random selection" lottery system for selecting men to serve in
• the war in Vietnam, changing the previous system of drafting according to age. 
• 1969 - Operation MENU -- covert bombings in Cambodia (Hoff 215-218)
• 1969 -- October and November Moratorium demonstrations (Hoff 227-213)
• 1970 US troops and planes attack Communist bases in Cambodia. Kent State killings.
• 1971 -- Release of Pentagon Papers
• 1972 North Vietnamese Army Eastertide Offensive. Most US troops withdrawn.
• Jane Fonda visits North Vietnam
• Christmas Bombing
• 1973 US and North Vietnam sign a peace agreement. Last US combat troops leave.
• 1974 Nixon resigns following the Watergate scandal.
• 1975 South Vietnam surrenders to North Vietnam and the country is reunited. Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital, renamed Ho Chi Minh City.
• 1977 President Carter pardons Vietnam‑era draft evaders.

Casualties

Inductions by Year -- The last draftee enters the Army on June 30, 1973.

Silent Majority -- Conclusion starts at 29:00



Nixon's approval rating went from 55 to 64 percent.


Cambodia






Nixon and the "Decent Interval"

• August 3, 1972
• October 6, 1972

The decent interval ended in April 1975.