End+of+Vietnam

End of Vietnam:

Richard Nixon elected
 * promises "peace with honor" in Vietnam

Vietnamization- Nixon's policy for winding down the war
 * troops withdrawn
 * training and equipment given to South Vietnamese
 * by 1972, only 24,2000 troops remained

United States bombing raids increased, however
 * hurt supply of North Vietnam
 * bombing expanded to other countries- Laos and Cambodia

Nixon wanted the enemy to believe that he would do anything to win.

United States ground forces invaded Cambodia in Spring 1970

This leads to more domestic upheaval and student unrest

Nixon loses support form the public and Congress Gulf of Tonkin Resolution repealed

The Pentagon Papers
 * showed what the real thing is and what the public is being told
 * Nixon vs. New York Times, Nixon lost, papers published.

Peace Talks 1972Henry Kissinger talks with Le Duc Tho- they discuss peace, end up saying, peace is at hand, in october. Important because an election year, it sounds good for Nixon, so re-elected. He then drops more bombs, more than any other year bombs dropped. January 27, 1973
 * Agreement reached on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam

1975
 * North Vietnam military attacks
 * Saigon falls
 * Vietnam is reunited under communism

April 39, 1975- end of war

Legacy
 * In Southeast Asia
 * 1.5 million Vietnamese deaths
 * Countless Vietnamese civilians wounded, homeless
 * Agrarian society in shambles
 * Southeast Asia left highly unstable
 * Cambodia fell to communism after terror
 * America copes
 * 58,000 Americans killed
 * 365,000 wounded
 * 150 billion in direct costs
 * U.S. attempts to come to grips with a "loss"- blow to self-esteem
 * Major changes as a result of the conflict
 * Government abolishes the draft
 * War POwers ACt- curd the power of the president
 * Altered American foreign policy
 * Overall cynicism in American- pessimistic Americans
 * Disillusionment
 * Veterans extended a cold hand
 * Some veterans suffered from stress
 * Many citizens embittered towards government
 * entire generation is effected
 * "America's scar is slowing healing."