“I’m not going to end up like LBJ. I’m going to end that war fast.”

Can we win? Henry Kissinger told Nixon that Vietnam could be won in 8-13 years!

How do we end the war in Vietnam?• Peace with Honor• Withdraw troops,

negotiate, and when they do not accept bomb

• Push USSR/China to help end the war…

• Creighton Abrams replaces Westmoreland

1. US shall keep all treaty commitments.

2. US shall provide a shield of nuclear power to a country that is an ally or vital to our security.

3. We will give $$ and military aid to others but they are responsible for their primary defense.

Goal-Make the NV think that Nixon had lost his mind in order to end the war• Ex: Boxer Shorts

Operation Duck Hook-called for the possibility of dropping nuclear weapons across NV by Nov. 1, 1969

LBJ-March 31, 1968• End all bombing of

North Vietnam

Restart the Air War against the North• Destroy anything that

could be used as an offensive weapon

• Dropped mines in harbors of NV

• Destroyed 4 USSR ships

Known as the Christmas bombings• December 1972• Round the clock

bombings of civilian targets like hospitals and orphanages

• Estimated 2000 Casualties on Day 1

Focuses on Cambodia Revolution in 1970

• US secretly launches Menu

• Use Cambodia to attack NV Public has no knowledge of

bombings US bombs VC strongholds

• Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Dessert, Snack, Supper

• Lasted for 4 years!

Plan by the Nixon administration to turn the fighting in Vietnam over to SV.

This lowered US military effectiveness.

Nixon uses his Peace with Honor approach

Starts to withdraw troops over a 14 pt. phased plan• 1968-560,000• 1972-60,000

US wanted to cut off Trail in SE Laos

SV army invades and succeeds for first 2 weeks• Why? Buy time for US

withdrawal Crushed by NV and

Vietnamization is seen as a failure!!• SV ask for guns to kill

themselves-caught on TV

Nixon guards the White House (January 1970) - 300 soldiers• “Draft Beer, not Kids”• “1,2,3,4, we don’t want

your ------- war”• “Hey, hey LBJ, how

many kids did you kill today?”

19 year olds would be called first…then 20, 21, 22, 18…• Numbers picked from

huge glass bowl• After 182-safe from war!• Highest TV ratings in 5

years

The war wasn’t ending like most Americans had hoped.• Bombing escalated• Involvement in Laos &

Cambodia increased• Congress is angered

over the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Leaked by Daniel Ellsberg• Worked for the Defense

Dept.• Report ordered by

McNamara about the mistakes in Vietnam

• Government frequently misled the public Gulf of Tonkin Body Count

NY Times obtained 7000 pages of the report

**Nixon would not let this happen again!• Plumbers set up to stop

leaks (CIA/FBI)

“US troops kill 128 Reds”

Lt. William Calley• Company had lost

95/190 men in 3 months• Ran into village that was

filled with mines and booby traps.

• 567 people killed by the end of the day

• Calley himself killed 109.

May 4, 1970• 4 Killed and 9 wounded on the Ohio Campus

Sat. night• Parties, out from bars, breaking windows, fires

Sunday• With administrative approval, lit ROTC building

on fire, threw rocks @ firemen, cut their hosesMonday

• Students rang victory bell @ noon, Natl. Guardsman appeared, Evacuate the Commons, 12:24 shot 61 times into crowd

May 14, 1970 Students pelted white

motorists w/rocks & bottles

2 killed, 12 wounded by police

Are colleges safe anymore?

April 23, 1971• 700 vets stood in line

and threw their medals over the fence into the Capitol.

• John Kerry was there???

January 27, 1973-ceasefire announced• US withdrew last 27,000 troops• NV left 145,000 in SV• All POW’s released• US would give $7.5 billion in aid 5 Billion to SV 2.5 Billion to NV

November 7, 1973-War Powers Act• Congress repeals Gulf of Tonkin Resolution,

regains power to declare war

Why did the North win?Why did the North win? 1. North fought hard

and well 2. Poor SV leadership 3. American tactics

inappropriate 4. Long and draining

war for the US