Vietnam-+The+End

=The End of Vietnam = Richard Nixon elected
 * promises "peace with honor" in Vietnam
 * **Vietnamization**- Nixon's policy for winding down war
 * 1) Troops withdrawn
 * 2) training and equipment given to South Vietnamese
 * 3) by 1972, only 24,200 troops remained
 * __Bombing raids increased__- hurt supply lines in North Vietnam
 * bombing expanded to other countries- Laos and Cambodia


 * Nixon wanted enemy to believe he would do anything to win war
 * Nixon loses support from the public and Congress- Gulf of Tonkin Resolution repealed

The Pentagon Papers
 * Govt. had been lying about the war
 * Pentagon papers are published- what was actually happening in the war and why was the govt lying about it
 * New York Times vs. Nixon

Peace Talks- 1972
 * Henry Kissinger, Le Duc Tho
 * "Peace is at hand"
 * Nixon get reelected
 * U.S. bombs North Vietnam more than it ever had before in Christmas- "Christmas Bombing"
 * Large civilian casualties

The U.S. and Vietnam agree to end war and restore peace in Vietnam- 1973
 * part of the deal: North Vietnamese would release American prisoners of war
 * American prisoners stayed in Hanoi Hilton (pretty brutal place) there were signs of torture
 * Most famous prisoner: John McCain- stayed in the camp for almost 7 years
 * Prisoners developed tapping code to talk to each other

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

War really ended in April in 1975 Legacy
 * 1.5 million Vietnamese deaths
 * South Vietnam is unstable
 * Cambodia falls to communism

America Copes
 * America has to cope with the Vietnam War
 * 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
 * Changes in U.S. policy

Major changes as a result of the conflict
 * Govt. gets rid of draft
 * War Powers Act- curb the power of the president
 * altered American foreign policy
 * Americans become cynical

Disillusionment
 * Veterans extended a cold hand
 * Veterans were treated terribly
 * Some veterans suffered from stress disorder
 * Many citizens are embittered toward govt.
 * Entire generation of Americans was affected