30 5 The End of the War and its Legacy

troops with South Vietnamese troops – to establish “peace with honor ”  On Back: Nixon appeals to the “Silent Majority” to support Vietnamization those Americans who Nixon believed

30-5: The End of the War and its Legacy

1 Nixon adopts a policy of

Vietnamization

 To end U.S involvement in Vietnam

 To replace U.S troops with South

Vietnamese troops – to establish

“peace with honor ”

 On Back: Nixon appeals to the “Silent

Majority” to support Vietnamization

( those Americans who Nixon believed

silently supported his policies in

Vietnam )

2 My Lai

massacre shocks

Americans

 100 innocent Vietnamese

murdered by U.S soldiers – This event further turns Americans

away from

the war

3 Nixon orders invasion

of Cambodia

 Purpose: To remove Vietnamese

and Vietcong supply centers from

Cambodia (Many Americans see

this act as an escalation of the war

and are angry)

4 First Student Strike in

U.S History Occurs

 Purpose: To protest the invasion of Cambodia

5 Congress repeals the Tonkin Gulf Resolution

 Purpose: To protest Nixon’s

bombing and invasion of Cambodia without first notifying Congress – This act is an attempt by Congress

to gain greater control over U.S

policy in Vietnam.

6 The “Christmas bombings” take place

 Purpose: To Force a negotiated peace settlement

Massive 11 day air campaign in

December of 1972 that Nixon

unleashed in an attempt to make

North and South Vietnam sit

down at the bargaining table and

begin negotiating an end to the

war in Vietnam

7 South Vietnam surrenders

to North Vietnam

 North Vietnam’s

full scale invasion

of South Vietnam

and the capture

of Saigon leads to

the South’s

surrender

 No U.S troops

were there to

prevent the

North’s victory

8 Vietnam veterans receive a

cold homecoming

 At the time, Americans were very

torn and bitter about the war and

did not honor our returning

soldiers as they should have been

In more recent years,

Americans have tried to

make up for our ill

treatment of our

Vietnam Veterans

9 Cambodia erupts in

Civil War

 After the U.S

invasion of Cambodia

 (On Back) the Khmer Rouge- a Communist group takes over

Cambodia and purges all intellectuals

Khmer Rouge with a prisoner

10 Congress passes the War Powers Act

 To curb the

President’s war

making power

 Presidents must

notify congress

within 48 hours of

committing troops to

a foreign nation

 No troops can remain

in a foreign nations

after 90 days without

approval by

Congress.

 This act = attempt by

congress to keep

presidents from

having full reign to

conduct a war again.

11 The draft is abolished

 The draft had become

very unpopular

12 Many Americans lose faith in their government

 The publication of the Pentagon Papers

On Back: (Government documents that

showed the govt had no exit plan for

Vietnam) reveals Johnson’s

Administration was lying about the war

 My Lai Massacre leads some Americans

to view the U.S military as “baby killers”

 Campus turmoil (Kent State killings)

 Nixon’s administration is found corrupt

and that the president lied about the war

during the Watergate Scandal

12 Many Americans lose faith in their government

 The publication of the Pentagon Papers On Back: (Government documents that showed the govt had no exit plan for Vietnam)

reveals Johnson’s Administration was lying about the war

 My Lai Massacre leads some Americans to view the U.S military as “baby killers”

 Campus turmoil (Kent State killings)

 Nixon’s administration is found corrupt and that the president lied about the war during the Watergate Scandal

Henry Kissinger

advisor

who helped

negotiate

and end to

the war