Nixon and Vietnam Flashcards
How has Nixon and the war been viewed so far?
He must come up with a plan as the pressure is intensifying on him. The war has come back home and Americans are perceiving it badly.
Why was Cambodia a perception problem for America?
We have been to Cambodia before, so that was normal, but when people found out we went into Cambodia, then anger arose.
What was Nixon’s plan for the Vietnam War?
Peace with Honor
What were the two parts Nixon used to carry out Peace With Honor?
- The Madman Theory
- Vietnamization
What was the Madman Theory?
A game of Good Cop bad Cop
Who was the Good Cop?
Henry Kissinger
Who was the Bad Cop?
Nixon
Whose side is the Good Cop really on?
The bad cop’s side, but wants to seem nice to the person convicted
Who was Henry Kissinger?
Nixon’s National Security Advisor in 1st term, becomes Secretary of State in 2nd term, very smart man, expert in foreign policy and diplomacy.
Why was it natural for Nixon to be the Bad Cop?
- Presidential power
- political career
How did Nixon’s Presidential power help him be the Bad Cop?
He is President because he can do whatever, he has authority to take all necessary steps under Gulf of Tonkin.
How did Nixon’s political experience help him be the Bad Cop?
He has become the popular American anti-Communist face.
What events in Nixon’s political background helped him become the Anti-Communist face of America?
- Kitchen Debate with Khrushchev
- Pumpkin Papers with Alger Hiss
- Interviewing Castro in Cuba
Who is the person Nixon and Kissinger want to play as the criminal in Vietnam?
Le Duc Tho
Who is Le Duc Tho?
North Vietnamese negotiator
Where did we negotiate with Tho?
Paris
Why is it ironic that we negotiate in Paris with Tho?
We got in the war because of French’s loss at Dien Bien Phu and we get out of war in France.
What does a good cop do?
He comes in, apologizes for bad cop and cares and calmly counsels with him and discusses the issue, he is “best friend” but is still in favor with the bad cop
What does a bad cop do?
He comes in and gives aggressive harshness to criminal
What did Nixon hope Vietnamization would help him do?
appease some of the pressure on him from the American people
What was the plan for Vietnamization?
To turn our ground combat over to the ARVN to fight the north themselves.
What did Nixon think of Vietnamization of the war?
What the war should have been from day one, as our arrogance got the best of us, we should have let it be their war.
How was the US the “bad parent” during the Vietnam War?
We are doing all the work for the South Vietnamese and they have not learned anything during the war, and we lose it for them anyways.
How did Nixon carry out Vietnamization?
Under Johnson, we increased our troops, Nixon will slowly decrease our troops there, as we slowly remove our troops from Vietnam.
Why did Nixon want Vietnamization?
We are losing and our arrogance got the best of us. Also, the ARVN should fight for their own country and be responsible for their own country.
What was the initial problem with Vietnamization?
How do you negotiate from strength when everyone knows you are quitting?
Why was negotiations and strength a problem with us leaving the war?
All sides of the war know we are leaving and we are not showing strength to negotiate by backing out.
What is the answer to the lack of negotiation strength for us?
Operation Menu
What were the names of the sub-operations for Operation Menu?
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, etc.
What was the goal of Operation Menu?
Consistently bombing North Vietnam to show them our strength and to possibly strike up negotiations.
What time frame did we carry out Operation Menu?
1969-1973
How many tons of bombs did we drop in 1969?
659 tons
How many tons of bombs did we drop in 1970?
832 tons
How many tons of bombs did we drop in 1971?
1842 tons
How many tons of bombs did we drop in 1972?
218, 561 tons
How did we carry out Operation Menu?
We kept bombing them, and he bombing is annoying them, so we ask for what we want and threaten to keep annoyingly bombing them if they say no, we keep bombing until we get the deal we want. NVA wants us out, so they may have to appease.
How long did we bomb Vietnam in 1973?
27 days
After the 27 days in 1973 of bombing, what happens?
We get a cease-fire agreement
How many bombs were dropped in those 27 days in 1973?
15,347 tons, about 568 per day
Where are most of the bombs dropped?
Hanoi and Haiphong
Why did we bomb mostly in Hanoi and Haiphong?
Their leaders are there, so we keep them thinking about it all the time about negotiating.
What became the issue with the bombing of Operation Menu?
The Pentagon Papers
When was the Pentagon Papers case?
1972
What is the Pentagon?
In Washington, DC/Arlington, VA-our department of defense office building.
Who stole Pentagon Papers?
Daniel Ellsburg
Who was Daniel Ellsburg?
A political scientist that worked in the Pentagon.
What did Daniel Ellsburg do in the scandal?
He stole over 7000 pages of classified defense department documents.
What was the official name for the papers that Ellsburg stole?
History of US Decision Making Policy in Vietnam
What process did Ellsburg take to steal all the pages?
He steals a few pages at a time, photocopies them, returns them, and then links them to the NY Times, and they publish them.
What years do the documents cover?
Up to 1968 (no Nixon-administration documents)
After finding out about these documents being stolen, what does Nixon do?
Nixon files a court injunction against him
Why did Nixon file a court injunction against Ellsburg?
What is in the documents is what they don’t want the American public to know.
Why would Nixon be worried about these old documents getting leaked?
People think that we could be having more people and escalate our involvement more, people could see documented records of our war tactics and crimes, and the controversy of Tonkin could be seen.
What did Nixon also fear if the American people read about all these issues in the documents?
The coup that killed Diem.
Why was Nixon worried of America finding out about the reports of killing Diem?
We encouraged supporting him, but we kill him, and all that was happening made our government look very bad.
What happened to Nixon’s injunction filing?
It went to court
What was the debate about the actions of Ellsburg?
The 1st Amendment (Freedom of Press) and how far the limits could take it for him.
What was the court case debating Ellsburg’s scandal?
Nixon v. Rosenthal
What were the claims Nixon took that the information should not be published?
- illegal (stolen documents)
- giving away secrets
- we are unreliable
- sets bad precedents for the future
Who was Rosenthal?
A NY Times editor, who helped publish the stolen information from Ellsburg
How was what Ellsburg did wrong with respect to giving away secrets?
He gave away codes that can risk peoples’ lives and our troops are still out and can endanger them as well.
How was what Ellsburg did wrong with respect to being unreliable?
It can hurt our negotiations with other countries such as China and USSR, as we are trying to fix a problem, another one is created.
How was what Ellsburg did wrong with respect to setting bad precedents?
It could set bad precedents for the future that anyone can leak information, without too much controversy.
What were Rosenthal’s arguments about why the information stolen should be published?
- Freedom of Press (1st Amendment)
- Sets precedent about openness of government
What did the Supreme Court decide in Nixon v. Rosenthal?
6-3 in favor of Rosenthal
What was the reasoning for the Supreme Court’s decision in Nixon v. Rosenthal?
First Amendment, none of this related to present day action and most already had happened, they said the Pentagon should do a better job keeping secrets.
What is the problem with the result of Nixon v. Rosenthal?
The reaction it creates with protest marches
How does Nixon feel after all these protests happening?
He feels the pressure to get out of the war and must figure out a way to do so.
What were the Christmas bombings?
December 1972, during the 12 days of Christmas, we bombed all over the north.
What did Communists think of us trying to leave Vietnam?
To take advantage of it
What did Communists do to take advantage of us leaving Vietnam?
The 1972 Offensive
What was the 1972 Offensive?
Communists are invading South Vietnam with 120,000 troops. It is similar to Tet.
What was the purpose of the 1972 Offensive?
To demonstrate Vietnamization would not work and to push the South a bit further.
What did Nixon announce in October of 1972?
Peace is at hand
When did Nixon say Peace is at hand? Was it really?
October 26, 1972-it wasn’t
Why did Nixon say Peace is at hand?
The war is almost over, says it right before the election of 1972, because he wants votes, vote against him now, and back into Vietnam again, if we change there is a problem.
After the Christmas Bombings, what did Nixon eventually reach?
A Cease-Fire Agreement
When was the Cease-Fire Agreement?
January 28, 1973
What were the American terms under the 1973 Cease-Fire Agreement?
- US could still aid South Vietnam
- A complete US withdrawal in 60 days
- Thieu will remain the South Vietnamese leader
What were the South Vietnamese terms under the 1973 Cease-Fire Agreement?
- VC were denied representation in the South’s government
- they could vote on reunification with the north
- North would recognize an independent South
- Council of National Reconciliation
- North could have 145,000 troops in the south
What was the Council of National Reconciliation?
Helped clean up all the war debris and assist all the refugees that fled Vietnam into Laos and Cambodia and also to fix all the environmental problems in Vietnam from the war.
Does Thieu remaining President of South Vietnam work well with Peace with Honor?
Yes
Why was North Vietnam recognizing an independent South Vietnam good for our cease-fire agreement?
It released all POWs and benefitted both sides of the war
Is our 60 day withdrawal plan a good idea for Peace With Honor?
Yes
How was the north having 145,000 troops in the South viewed under the cease-fire agreement?
It benefits north, nullifies every other point of the agreement, and does not really recognize South Vietnam as free.
On Day 61, after our troops leave, what happened with those Northern troops?
The two Vietnams go back to war as the northern troops are in the South.
How long does the remaining part of the war take after the US withdraws?
About 3 years
What was the winning battle for the North?
The Final Offensive
Who wins the war and when?
North wins in Spring 1975
What was the Final Offensive?
The NVA routed the ARVN as their tanks push into Saigon and Saigon fell to the north.
What was our problem after the war was still going on and when it was over?
We still have people there such as staff, embassy, some military, American business personnel and lots of South Vietnamese are connected to US.
When did we figure out a way to get the rest of Americans out of Vietnam?
April 1972, about when Saigon falls
What was our plan for getting the rest of Americans out of Vietnam?
Operation Frequent Wind
How was Operation Frequent Wind carried out?
They sent out a code for the Armed Forces Radio when American helicopters were coming to pick up more people.
What were the codes for the Armed Forces Radio?
- 105 degrees and rising
- I am dreaming of a White Christmas
How was Operation Frequent Wind carried out after the radio signals were made?
We were coming to three spots in Saigon, they got in lines for the helicopters, we took them to aircraft carriers in South China Sea, and we evacuated as many as we could until everyone was out of Vietnam.
