Nixon Flashcards
What was the situation with Vietnam by 1968?
The war was costing $30bn a year and Americans were dying at a rate of 200 a week.
How did talks between Hanoi and LBJ go? When did they start?
LBJ announced in March that “America is prepared to move immediately toward peace through negotiation” and Hanoi also wanted talks as N.V was exhausted after Tet. The talks began in Paris in May 1968 but the North Vietnamese insisted on Communist influence in the Saigon government which created a standstill
What were Nixon’s aims for Vietnam?
- To achieve “peace with honour” - alowing Thieu to remain in power in an independent South Vietnam. But for the North Vietnamese to accept this it would likely need intervention from the USSR or PRC to persuade N.Vietnam to accept it.
- He also needed to defuse the anti-war protests at home by taking public opinion into account
Define Vietnamisation.
Nixon’s aim to help the South Vietnamese to fight the war and take over from the Americans, this would be a gradual process of handing over the main responsibility to the ARVN
Define Peace With Honour.
Nixon’s aim to achieve peace in an agreement that would allow Thieu’s South Vietnamese government to stay in power in a viable South Vietnamese state
Define the Madman theory.
The aim to convince the Nort Vietnamese that Nixon was so obsessed with Communism that he would do anything - showing that hes got his hand on the nuclear button
Define linkage
Linking the building up of improved Cold War relations with the USSR and China with their assisstance in ending the Vietnam War. Nixon wanted to make it attractive to the Communist powers to assist in achieving peace in Vietnam because it would be linked to positive developments like arms talks
Define realpolitik.
A realistic rather than a moralistic or legalistic approach to foreign policy. It was guided by the view that foreign policy should ne dictated by national interest. Nixon and Kissinger were both known for their hard headed realistic attitudes at the expense of moral considerations
What did Nixon say was “public enemy umber 1”
drug abuse
How did Nixon start a “war on drugs”?
He declared the war in 1971 and 40 years later, the incaceration rate had increased by almost 5 times.
In January 1972, he created the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement (ODALE) and in July 1973 ODALE was consolidated into a “super agency” - the DEA - Drug Enforcement Agency
What did Erhlichmann reveal the aim was with the “war on drugs”?
He revealed the real enemy for the Nixon administration were the anti-left and black people. Erhlichmann said “We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or blacks….Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did”
How did Nixon try to reduce anti-war protests?
- Withdrawing troops
- Altering criteria for the draft
- Concealing the most damning realities of Vietnam
- Using speeches to question the patriotism of anti-war protests
Did Nixon’s efforts to reduce the anti-war protests work?
No, protests continued as celebrities like John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix and Muhammad Ali condemned the war. There were 8.5 million students enrolled in college, giving them the freedom to get involved in activism
When did anti-war protests peak under Nixon and what happened?
1971-, on May 4th, the National Guard shot dead 4 students who were protesting and following that, on the 20th, 130,000 people marched through New York City
Why did Nixon fail to control the protests?
- They did have a strong case for what they were protesting, couldnt just say they were wrong
- Nixon’s strategies like repeatedly declaring the war was almost over and cancelling protestor’s permits failed
What was Henry Kissinger awarded with in 1973?
The Nobel Peace Prize, won it together with is North Vietnamese counterpart Le Duc Tho. The latter refused to accpet the prize, Kissinger accepted it but two members of the Nobel Committee actually left out of protest
What was Kissinger’s attitude to foreign policy?
Extremely pragmatic - not massively focussed on ideologies or morals, instead all about how the US can benefit most from each situation
What was the context to Kissinger using “shuttle diplomacy” in the Middle East?
The USA had supported Israel in the Cold War and the USSR had backed the Arab states. In October 1973, the Yom Kippur war broke out between Israel and an Arab coalition. Both superpowers supplied their respective ally but a ceasefire was agreed with Israel in Egyptian and Syrian land
What actually was “shuttle diplomacy”?
A term coined by the media who followed Kissinger on his various short fligths around Middle East capitals as he sought to deal with the fallout of the 1973 war
Why was it important to the USA to play a lead role in the disengagement of the armies?
- It would possibly lay the groundwork for further steps to peacefully resolve the long conflict
- There was an OPEC oil embargo in the immediate aftermaths of the War and it was affecting the USA sharply
Why couldn’t Nixon himself get involved in the Middle East situation?
The Watergate Scandal had erupted at home and he was not in a position to take direct action himself
What techniques did Kissinger use in his diplomacy efforts in the Middle East?
He made duplicitous promises to both sides in secret meetings, often contradicting one another
Was Kissinger successful in his “shuttle diplomacy”?
Yes, the decisions made met Kissinger’s aims for Israel’s borders, the embargo was called off and both Egypt and Isarel were brought closer to the USA
What was detente?
A relaxation of Cold War tensions
Why was Nixon in a position to pursue detente?
- Improving relations with the Soviets was seen as necessary following the 1960s
- Nixon was seen as strongly anti-communist so couldn’t be accused of being soft on communism
- Nixon saw the opportunity to play the PRC and USSR against each other
- Kissinger was very influential and key to detente
What was Triangular Diplomacy?
By 1968, Sino-Soviet relations had broken down and they had split off, Nixon recognised that if he were to strengthen relations with the PRC, then Brezhnev would be threatened and improve relations with the USA, Nixon wanted to play them against each other
What were economic motivations for detente?
The American economy had been drained by Vietnam and the USSR needed to cut military spending
When was the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signed?
July 1968
When did SALT talks finally begin?
Nov 1969
When did SALT 1 get signed?
May 1972
Where was SALT 1 signed?
Moscow
What did SALT 1 limit?
The number of ABMs and froze ICBMs
What did SALT I not mention?
MIRVs - Multiple Independent Re-Entry Vehicles, a new American technology
What did SALT allow to continue?
Mutually Assured Destruction - each superpowers had enough weapons to destroy each other. A MAD world was a safer world
Why did neither the USA or USSR agree to open inspections of each other’s military sites?
The military ran those sites and even if the President supported it, it never would have happenned
How significant were the SALT 1 talks and treaty?
Very - started process of slowing the Arms Race. There was significant symbolism of better relations, negotiations and the ability to get treaties signed. Paved the way for further arms limitation / reduction talks
When did Nixon visit China?
February 1972
Why did Nixon visit China?
- Detente with China would isolate the USSR and would add to “Triangular diplomacy” aims
- It would allow the USA to recover from a decade of conflict
- “we simply cannoy afford to leave China forever outside the family of nations”
How did better relations with the PRC come about?
- in 1971 Kissinger had secretly met with the Chinese premier Chou En-lai
- In April 1971, the US table tennis team had visited China while attending the world championships in Japan. Nicknamed pin pong diplomacy
What was the significance of the visit to China?
They still disagreed about the Taiwan situation but Nixon promised not to support it but not to suppress Taiwan either. But importantly it opened the world’s largest population to US trade and isolated the USSR
Who defeated Nixon in the 1960 presidential election?
John F. Kennedy
What did Nixon do when he lost the ’62 California gubernatorial election?
Left politics but campaigned for Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election.
Which two Democrats both stood for election in 1968?
Bobby Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey
How did Democrat Strom Thrumond help Nixon’s campaign?
He switcehd parties and helped Nixon win southern votes
How was Nixon portrayed in the run up to the 1968 election?
As a ‘safe pair of hands’
What key issue split the Democrats in the run up to the 1968 election?
The Vietnam War
Why did the Democrat candidates fail to be elected?
Kennedy was assassinated and Humphrey’s campaign was a disaster
Which Democrat left the party and stood as an independent in 1968?
George Wallace
