Vietnamization
- Anti-war demonstrations became very popular in the U.S.
- President Nixon was elected in 1968 on a peace platform (Tricky Dicky)
- Nixon wanted to find a way out honourably
- Developed Vietnamization with help of Henry Kissinger and Henry Cabot-Lodge
- The plan had a two track formula
- 1.) Make the south well trained enough militarily that they could withstand the north on their own
- 2.) Strengthen the south’s government to attract a broader base
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US Withdrawals
- American’s began to make their first withdrawals in Aug. 1969
- The air war increased
- B-52s dropped more bombs on North Vietnam than during all of WWII
- 1971 almost entirely an air war
- 1972 200,000 troops
- Jan. 1973 a cease fire is signed (Americans got their POWs back after 20 years of fighting)
- Aug. 1973 all U.S. forces out of Vietnam
- Spring 1975 all of south Vietnam falls to the north and becomes Communist
Effects of the Vietnam War
- Costs the U.S. 150 billion dollars
- 57, 939 men killed
- Loss of a country to Communism
- Limitations brought in on the President’s powers to wage war (Vietnam never declared a war)
- Made the U.S. look bad worldwide
- Conscription was ended in U.S.