President+Nixon

President Nixon  Nixon was elected in 1968. When he came into presidency he had inherited all the problems of the previous president, Lyndon Johnson. There were still more than 500,000 troops stationed in Vietnam at the time (Simon). And while there were thousands of American lives being lost every month, he had many other problems as well. The democratic party had already developed a natural enmity towards him. The country was also anti-war and divided. Divided racially, and divided regarding the war. He had a big job, and little time. (Simon)

He had to develop a strategy. He created a plan with four major components. First, was Vietnamization. Vietnamization was the beginning of pulling American troops out of Vietnam. The goal here was to eliminate American casualties and gradually hand the power and the responsibilities of the war over to the South Vietnamese so they could resume fighting on their own. Nixon knew that this would take time, and that pulling troops could be dangerous; But he was determined to get our troops out as efficiently as possible. (Simon)

The second component to his strategy was to gain public support. In the election he barely won. He knew that his support was low and he needed the public's trust. His goal was to grab public attention and to have them support him through the rest of the war, as well as his presidency. (Simon)

His third component was the "Madman" scenario. He wanted the North Vietnamese to believe that he could attack them at any time and he wanted them to fear him. When Henry Kissinger, the National Security Advisor, was sent to meetings with North Vietnam he would tell them of how volatile Nixon's personality was. Nixon would bomb cities surrounding Vietnam and bombed and invaded Cambodia to cut off supplies. Kissinger would also warn the Vietnamese that he could fly into a fit of rage at any time and attack them if provoked. (Simon)

Lastly, Nixon wanted to try a "geopolitical" approach. He thought that if he 'befriended' China and the Soviet Union that North Vietnam may succumb as well. He knew that China and the Soviet Union were both interested in peace and //detente// -- an easing of Cold War tensions and easing trade relations. He hoped to pressure Vietnam into ending the war. (Simon)



In 1970 Nixon finallyannounced his plan for Vietnamization. Many citizens agreed with Nixon's decision; but there was still opposition. On May 1, 1970, the ROTC building was torched in protest. When this happened all hell broke loose. Students at Kent State University held silent protests. Angry, the governor of Ohio at the time, James Rhodes, sent members of the National Guard to control the situation. Four students were killed, and eight injured, when the guards started firing. (Simon)

The Kent shooting caused uproar across the country. 450 colleges and universities went on protest (Simon). Many universities closed for the year. And in California the governor, Reagan, closed the whole college/university system. While many tragedies struck the country, troops were still being pulled from Vietnam. By the end of 1970 there were only 335,000 troops left, as opposed to the 537,000 that were station in 1968 and there were far less casualties. (Simon) In 1972 Nixon won by a landslide against his democratic opponent, George McGovern, and was reelected. Then, on January 23, 1973, on national television, announced that the United States had reached an agreement with Vietnam to end the war. The agreement stated that there would be a ceasefire throughout Southeast Asia, the US would withdraw remaining troops and all American prisoners of war. It also stated that the Thieu government could remain in power and the North Vietnamese would remain stationed in South Vietnam. Return of the POWs began on Februrary 11, 1973 and was televised. (Simon)

In 1972, when Nixon won the election, it was rumored that he did not win completely fairly. Throughout his campaign his political advisors organized a Committee to Reelect the President, CREEP. They collected almost $50 million to use in his campaign, some of which was received illegally (Bragdon). Some CREEP employees were caught "bugging" an office that belonged to the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate building. Rumors across the country spread that Nixon had ordered the group to spy on the democratic party during the campaign. It was said that Nixon had also given the burglars almost $1 million to make sure they kept quiet about the incident. When the case went to court many people testified about the illegal activity performed by the White House staff as well as the members of CREEP. 25 people who were somehow connected with the scandal were convicted of Watergate-related crimes and sent to prison. Nixon, in danger of being impeached, resigned on August 8, 1974. (Bragdon)

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