Nixon 's Impact On The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War, lasting for approximately 20 years, was the longest and one of the most controversial wars in American history. Not only did the war take a heavy toll on the American troops fighting abroad, but it also led to riots and tension amongst Americans on the homefront. Two presidents devoted to winning the war against the spread of Communism in Vietnam as quickly and effectively as possible were Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. Although Johnson was a Democrat and Nixon was a Republican, their foreign policies in Vietnam were similar because they both kept secrets about the war from Congress and because both of their foreign policies were disliked by the American public. However, they differed because Johnson escalated the United

Nixon agreed with the troop withdrawal from the Vietnam War. Nixon hoped his vietnamization policy, which involved gradually withdrawing American troops would permit the south vietnamese to take more responsibility for their own war against a communism and permit the U.S. to leave the battlefield. After, the U.S withdrew the American combat troops and declared the Vietnamization process complete, South Vietnam fell to Communism.

In 1967 the anti-war movement caused Lyndon Johnson to start a major propaganda campaign with the aim of convincing the American people that the war in Vietnam was being won. Johnson never managed to gain public opinion, but neither did the movement. According to Johnson’s white house aide and confidant Doris Kearns the anti-war movement had a “deep personal effect on him” and “drained his self-esteem and energy.” He went on to limit the bombing and not seek re-election with the hope that he would salvage his place in history by making progress in negotiating an end to the war and restoring unity at home. This hope was not fulfilled and Richard Nixon went on to be elected as president.

The US has been known to diverge from its once-isolationist state, engaging in international affairs like World War I and several other events alike. It’s therefore no surprise that the US intervened in the Vietnam War during the 1960’s. At the time, President Lyndon B. Johnson put forth new ideas, plans and tactics to help and protect the South Vietnamese and surrounding countries from communist influence. However, the United States’ initial goals and plans didn’t always go the way they had expected. Indeed, Johnson’s Vietnam policies failed because of his unreasonable military strategies and his inefficient political actions.

In Nixon’s effort to end the war, his first policy was to send a message to Hanoi that he meant business. His policy consisted of escalated strategic bombings near the border of Cambodia in hopes to get the North Vietnamese to fear that the United States was capable of doing anything to achieve victory. Even Johnson was skeptical of expanding the war into Cambodia but Nixon’s first policy in full effect. Unfortunately, America was blinded by the corruptness of Nixon’s “peaceful presidency” since

Nixon’s first term of presidency was full of accomplishments. Once in office, Nixon and his staff faced the problem of how to end the Vietnam War. Nixon made a nationally televised address on November 3, 1969, calling on Americans to renew their confidence in the government and back his policy of seeking a negotiated peace in Vietnam. Earlier that year, Nixon and his Defense Secretary Melvin Laird had unveiled the policy of “Vietnamization,” which entailed reducing American troop levels in Vietnam and transferring the burden of

To start with responding to the widespread protests, Nixon outlined his new Vietnam War policy in this speech; Called “Vietnamization”, Nixon’s war policy called for contraction in American troops but continued fighting. Nixon contrasted his international strategy of political realism with the idealism of a vocal minority. He ended his speech with the famous words that his speech became known by: “So tonight, to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans, I ask for your support;”

By 1968, the nation was openly struggling over the war in Vietnam, not only on college campuses but in mainstream media. In February, newscaster Walter Cronkite took an almost unprecedented (for him) position, offering commentary on his recent trip to Vietnam, stating that he felt victory was not possible and that the war would end in a stalemate. President Lyndon Johnson lamented, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost the nation." As the antiwar protest continued, Nixon's campaign stayed above the unravel, showing him as a figure of stability and appealing to what he referred to as the "silent majority" of social conservatives who were the steady foundation of the American public. Nixon was able to create a union of Southern and Western conservatives during the campaign. In exchange for their support, he promised to appoint "strict constructionists" to the federal judiciary and selected a running mate acceptable to the South, Maryland governor Spiro Agnew. The two waged really affected media campaign with successful commercials and public

When President Johnson delivered his State of the Union Address to Congress on January 17, 1968 he spoke of the war in Vietnam with optimism. He listed the many military accomplishments to date, mentioned the word “progress” five times, discussed a “fruitful” visit with the pope, and spoke with a tone and tenor that suggested an imminent, peaceful resolution (“Johnson’s Annual Message”). Not three months later – in a similarly important speech to the American people – Johnson stoically announced that he would not be seeking reelection (“Johnson’s Address to the Nation”). What had seemed like an impending certainty dissolved into a distant dream. Public support for the war, and of Johnson, had deteriorated so swiftly in the winter of

It was Nixon’s hope that by attacking the reporting of the war it would make him appear more credible, especially when the Gallup Poll indicated that “almost two-thirds of Americans doubted that he was being candid with them about the Vietnam War” (Pach 560). Unfortunately for the Administration this did little to change public opinion about the war (Pach

In this journal, Mitchell Lerner offers his assessment on the commonly accepted view among historians and people generally that Lyndon B. Johnson’s popularity declined due to the way he handled U.S involvement in the Vietnam War, by keeping the growing involvement a secret and not being truly honest about the odds how a victory in this war. . However, Lerner argues that this evaluation of Johnson fails to take into account several aspects pertaining to Johnson himself and the political atmosphere of the late 20th century. Lerner first claims that Johnson did attempt to make his intentions with Vietnam explicit, but either his words were ignored or misinterpreted by many Americans. Additionally, Lerner asserts that Johnson actions in Vietnam, like increasing the amount of U.S ground troops in Vietnam, should have also made Johnson commitment to Vietnam evident. Again though, Johnson actions were ignored by the American people. Lerner reasons that the American people generally ignored Johnson’s affairs in Vietnam because they were more concerned with domestic issues plaguing the United

The Vietnam war had already torn the United States into two groups, those who supported the war, and those who did not. Nixon did not start the Vietnam war but his decision to not withdraw troops rapidly, and his decision to send troops into Cambodia along with bombing them only continued the division of the country. Richard Nixon had divided the country during his race for the presidency when he gave his great silent majority speech. In this speech Nixon calls upon his “great silent majority”, instead of uniting the country this only deepened the divides between Americans.

President Nixon was currently in the midst of his first term of presidency in 1972. As things were going well for him, and his public opinion was up, the only thing that was standing in his way from definitely winning the next election was the Vietnam War. Nixon inherited this war from his predecessor, Lyndon B. Johnson. The Vietnam War was the most refuted military involvement from the general

Nixon also faced many challenges in 1969 after taking office the Johnson Administration had plans in place and planned to give up on the war and pulling out. “But as he entered office, he found that by the end of the Johnson administration, the goal of victory had been abandoned and a commitment had been made to end the bombing of North Vietnam.” This set his strategy back because it was the opposite of his promise to end the war with peace and honor. Adding into this was the fact that the leader of North Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, would not accept any terms of the agreements proposed unless the US surrendered and withdrew. “Soon after my election, through an individual who is directly in contact…. I made two private offers for a rapid, comprehensive settlement. Hanoi’s replies called in effect for our surrender before negotiations.” This

The investigation assesses the level of success President Richard Nixon’s Vietnamization policy attained during the Vietnam War to end U.S. involvement in the war. In the strive to evaluate the level of success this policy demonstrated, the investigation evaluates the ability of the policy to equip, expand, and train Southern Vietnamese forces and allocate them to a substantial combat position, all while simultaneously reducing the quantity of U.S. combat troops in a steady manner. The Vietnamization policy is investigated and analyzed by both its causes and effects. The motivation that led to Nixon’s creation of this