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Nixon and ford The End of the Sixties, Withdrawal from Vietnam and Watergate
Why Did the Vietnam War Make the Government and the US look bad? • The Endless War…No matter how much firepower, no matter how many troops were sent, no matter how much money was spent, there seemed to be no end in sight. • Use of The huge monetary costs of the war were prohibiting money from being spent on domestic issues and were causing economic problems • Misinformation by military and civilian leaders to the American people, along with Johnson’s reluctance to speak frankly regarding the scope and costs of the war created a “credibility gap” • Napalm and Agent Orange… • All caught on film and brought nightly into the American Living Room.
Napalm • A mixture of chemicals which creates a jelly-like substance that, when ignited, sticks to practically anything and burns for up to ten minutes. The effects of napalm on the human body are unbearably painful and almost always cause death among its victims. “Napalm is the most terrible pain you can ever imagine” said Kim Phúc, a survivor from a napalm bombing. “Water boils at 212°F. Napalm generates temperatures 1,500°F to 2,200°F.” Napalm was first used in flamethrowers for U.S. ground troops; they burned down sections of forest and bushes in hopes of eliminating any enemy guerrilla fighters. Later on in the war B-52 Bombers began dropping napalm bombs and other incendiary explosives. Air raids that used napalm were much more devastating than flamethrowers; a single bomb was capable of destroying areas up to 2,500 square yards
Agent Orange • Agent Orange is a toxic chemical herbicide that was used from about 1965 – 1970 in the Vietnam War. It was one of the main mixtures used during Operation Ranch Hand. Operation Ranch Hand was intended to deprive Vietnamese farmers and guerilla fighters of clean food and water in hopes they would relocate to areas more heavily controlled by the U.S. By the end of the operation over twenty million gallons of herbicides and defoliants were sprayed over forests and fields. • Agent Orange is fifty times more concentrated than normal agricultural herbicides; this extreme intensity completely destroyed all plants in the area. Agent Orange not only had devastating effects on agriculture but also on people and animals. The Vietnam Red Cross recorded over 4.8 million deaths and 400,000 children born with birth defects due to exposure to Agent Orange.
Tet Offensive: February 1968 • Major coordinated communist/North Vietnamese offensive throughout South Vietnam, including the capital of Saigon and the holy imperial city of Hue • Though US forces retook both Saigon and Hue, and though there were many, many enemy casualties, the Tet Offensive convinced Americans that we were not winning this war any time soon.
War Protest • As the war dragged on and on, more and more protests of the war, first among pacifists and socialists, then on college campuses, and then in wider society. 1967 March on the Pentagon
The Draft • Selective service system was used to keep up with troop demands • Deferments for college students and some professions, and a military-assignment system that sent the better-educated to desk jobs, created a situation where lower-class youths were twice as likely to be drafted and then twice as likely to see combat duty than middle- and upper-class youths. • Those who did not wish to go burned draft cards in protest, or ran away to Canada or other countries not involved in Vietnam (will later be pardoned by Ford)
Johnson Domestic Policy “Great Society” programs included Medicaid; Medicare; Elementary and Secondary Education Act; new immigration laws; the National Foundation of the Arts and Humanities; creation of Departments of Transportation (DOT) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD); increased funding for higher education, public housing and crime prevention; and environmental and consumer protection programs. 1964 Civil Rights Act, 1965 Voting Rights Act, and ratification of 24th Amendment **Plagued by Vietnam, decided not to run for reelection
1968 Democratic Convention • Anti-war (and anti- political establishment) protests turned into rioting in the streets of Chicago. • Yippies (Youth International Party – led by Abbie Hoffman) threatened to put LSD in the city’s water supply • Democrats seen as the party of dissent and disorder, and Nixon cruised to victory in 1968 election. • He claimed to have a secret plan to end the war.
Nixon Administration Highlights (1969-74) • Domestic Policy: New Federalism – Federal government gives local governments grants to address local needs (rather than dictating from Washington ) - Republican response to Johnson’s Great Society • Economic Policies: Stagflation (Stagnant economy plus lots of inflation, caused by foreign competition, war costs, and OPEC embargo) fought with policies of deficit spending; 1971 90-day wage/price freeze; taking the dollar off the gold standard, and a 10% import tax. Nixon’s policies provided a temporary economic fix, but the “stagflation“ would resurface in the late 70’s.
Nixon Administration Highlights • Foreign Policy • Still fighting (and expanding) the Vietnam War, until Peace Accords of January, 1973. We will get back to this tomorrow… • Détente with China and Soviet Union • Visited China in February 1972, initiating diplomatic exchanges that effectively ended the Cold War with China, ultimately led to recognition of the Communist Government in 1979, and opened significant trade with this nation. • Used his relationship with China to put pressure on USSR to reduce some nuclear arms (ABMs) – seen as 1st round of Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT), a significant step in reducing Cold War Tensions. Nixon visits Chinese premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing, Feb. 1972
Nixon and Vietnam • Nixon’s general plan to end the war was a policy of Vietnamization, in which we trained South Vietnamese troops to defend their own country…under this policy, US troop numbers went from 540,000 in 1969 to 30,000 in 1972. • This Vietnamization policy reduced the number of war protests temporarily, until news of • 1) secret bombing of Cambodia and Laos, • 2) the discovery of the My Lai Massacre and • 3) the Publication of the Pentagon Papersrefueled anti-war sentiment, leading to Kent State.
Gerald Ford1974-1977 • Replaced Spiro Agnew as Vice President in 1973, when Agnew resigned for having taken bribes when governor of Maryland. • Ford was Scrupulously honest/ Good reputation, BUT… • Had to deal with Watergate leftovers – Pardoned Nixon to end the Watergate “national nightmare” once and for all. • Also had the misfortune of lingering Vietnam issues, including the fall of Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital, and the fall of Cambodia to Communism. • Oh, and the economy tanked again • Lost the ‘76 election to relative unknown, Jimmy Carter.
My Lai Massacre Vietnamese women and children in Mỹ Lai before being killed in the massacre, March 16, 1968. According testimony, they were killed seconds after the photo was taken. Photo by Ronald L. Haeberle • The My Lai Massacre was the mass murder of between 347 and 504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968, by United States Army soldiers of "Charlie" Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade of the Americal Division. • Victims included women, men, children, and infants. Some of the women were gang-raped and their bodies were later found to be mutilated, and many women were allegedly raped prior to the killings. While 26 U.S. soldiers were initially charged with criminal offenses for their actions at Mỹ Lai, only Second Lieutenant William Calley, a platoon leader in Charlie Company, was convicted. Found guilty of killing 22 villagers, he was originally given a life sentence, but only served three and a half years under house arrest. • The first reports claimed that "128 Viet Cong and 22 civilians" were killed in the village during a "fierce fire fight.” The incident prompted global outrage when it became public knowledge in 1969. The massacre also increased domestic opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. -Wikipedia
Pentagon Papers • Classified history of the war in Vietnam leaked to the NY Times by former Defense Department analyst, Daniel Ellsberg • Documented mistakes and deceptions of government policy-makers in dealing with Vietnam.
Kent State May 4, 1970: Kent State Massacre. Police shot at a group of unarmed protesters, killing 4.
Paris Accords of 1973 created a cease fire and allowed the remaining US troops to get out of Vietnam completely, with a promise to South Vietnam to resume aid if North Vietnam attacked. In 1974, when President Ford asked Congress for aid to South Vietnam in the face of a strong attack from Communist forces, it was denied. In April 1975, Saigon, South Vietnam’s capital, fell to communist forces, and Vietnam became one country under communist rule, with its capital at Hanoi. Evacuation of Vietnamese supporters of the US from Saigon. April 1975.
Questions • Why would we say the Vietnam War was part of the Cold War? • Do you think there was a connection between the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement? Explain your answer. • Explain why the Watergate Scandal caused Americans to lose faith in their government. • Which side was behind the Tet Offense? Do you think the Tet Offense was successful? Why or why not?
