Peace at Hand 1968-1973

By 1968 3,000,000 tons of bombs in Vietnam
2x that dropped on Germany and Japan in WWII

Nixon wins the 1968 election by a narrow margin

Mekong Delta - far from pacified

Nixon and Vietnamization
removed the troops
"coming home soldier" song

Air and artillery attacks stepped up upon U.S. troop withdrawal

Ho Chi Minh died Sept 3 in 1969

U.S. troops deployed to Washington to protect the capital from anti-war demonstrators

Nixon and aides claimed demonstrators were undermining the war

POW said NV used demonstrations as propaganda

Evangelist Billy Graham "he is our president"
Supported President after invasion of Cambodia and shooting of students at Kent State

Pentagon Papers were published in NY Times in 1971

U.S. had been involved with secret talks with N. Vietnam, between Le Duc Tho and Kissenger

Nixon visits China - bombshell

N.Vietnamese offensive was blunted by mining and bombing - Le Duc Tho was more concilliatory

Moscow - Breshnev - tough rhetoric, but no action

NV dropped demand that Thieu government had to disband - would accept co-existence
"cease fire in place"

South Vietnamese leaders balked at the peace treaty of 1972.  North Vietnam announced the secret treaty to the press when they thought the U.S. would back out.

Kissenger - "peace is at hand"

Nixon won the 1972 election by a landslide, but faced a hostile Congress

Operation Enhance Plus - supply equipment to Saigon government to assure them about U.S. commitment to peace process

Christmas bombing - Nixon's reaction to the North Vietnam difficulty at the negotiations

Results compared to Hiroshima in WWII
Something "shocking" had to be done

Treaty in 1973 (terms just like one in 1972)
Le Duc Tho and N. Vietnamese ready to sign
S Vietnam was one country with 2 governments
Moves towards reconcilliation
POWs returned
U.S. troops would leave
N forces could remain in the South

LBJ died day before agreement was signed
58,000 U.S. troops had died in Vietnam

Jan 27, 1973 all parties signed peace agreement

U.S. POWs returned from Hanoi Hilton
NVA POWs took off clothing issued to them by SVN