Although President Richard Nixon accomplished a few achievements in domestic politics, most of his first term was dominated by foreign affairs, most notably, the Vietnam War. President Richard Nixon’s six years of presidency remain widely viewed as a time of change in American military, diplomatic, and political history. President Richard Nixon played a vital role in times of the Vietnam War as he experienced the extreme escalation of the war as well as the end of the war itself all during his presidency.
During which Nixon was forced to decide between securing South Vietnam from communism, which would escalate the war even further or withdrawing U.S. forces to end their involvement in an increasingly unpopular war. The Vietnam War was perceived to be unwinnable and its cost too high. Nixon’s primary goal was not winning the war but finding an honorable way out without betraying his ally/friendly nation. Thus, he established the Nixon Doctrine, also called, Vietnamization. Which was his strategy of replacing American troops with Vietnamese soldiers to fight for themselves. Nonetheless, the essential key of Nixon’s policy was ‘peace with honor”.
If Nixon were to suddenly withdraw American troops from the War zone, South Vietnam would be vulnerable and overpowered by North Vietnamese. Which would result in America’s dishonorable betrayal of its ally undermine its credibility in front of other nations around the world. In order to withdraw from the War and bring peace to Vietnam and Southeast Asia with honor, they concluded with the Paris Peace Accord to end the War in 1973. Which allowed the United States to continue aiding South Vietnam in terms of the agreement while shifting the responsibility of protecting the South from the U.S. troops back to South Vietnamese themselves.
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Vietnamization along with negotiation were Nixon’s two pillars for achieving an honorable peace. Nixon took several directions to prove that he is committed to prevent the spread of communist. He authorized Vietnamization to pull out American troops and transfer responsibility of defense to the government in South Vietnam.
Vietnamization was surely successful in withdrawing as many American men as possible within those sixty days. Nixon supplied the South Vietnamese army with improved weapons and quality training of their own soldiers. He hoped to frighten the North Vietnamese to the peace table by demonstrating his willingness to bomb urban areas and mine harbors. He sought to cut the Ho Chi Minh supply trail by secretly bombing North Vietnamese sanctuaries in Cambodia.
Which interfered with the communist supplies and made a bold statement. He continued to approve devastating military bombing and invasion operations on Cambodia after the neutralist leader by the name of Prince Sihanouk was replaced with a pro-American military government. Which was one the most controversial factors of his strategy of “peace with honor”. Nonetheless, Nixon had been trying to settle the war on favorable terms. Although he had hoped to take advantage of his improved relations with the Soviets and Chinese to pressure North Vietnam to reach a settlement, he could only negotiate a flawed agreement.
Which in fact did not help him end the war, instead, it only interrupted the war for a time being. All in all, after analyzing the effectiveness of his different plans, it is clear that his plans weren’t perfected and thorough. Vietnamization, pressuring North Vietnam with powers of the Chinese and Soviet Union, and his way of demonstrating his willingness to do the irrational in order to win victory against communist North Vietnam, are all aspects of his strategy that failed to come together.
Postwar, after South Vietnam fell under the force of North Vietnam Communist group, Vietnam was unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976. Though intermittent acts of violence continued over the course of the next fifteen years. However, after decades of warfare, an estimated number of about two million residents of South Vietnam were either killed or heavily wounded. Psychologically, many Veterans suffered mentally and physically for a long time after the war ended. The Veterans Administration estimated that “one-sixth” of the veterans were “experiencing recurring nightmares, feelings of guilt and shame, violence, substance abuse, and suicidal tendencies”, effects that last a lifetime (The American Promise, 856).
In addition, people who served in the Vietnam War began to report sings of illnesses like, “birth defects, cancer, and severe skin disorders” (858). Which were assumed to be the causes of the long lasting negative impacts of Agent Orange; A chemical gas utilized by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. Moreover, the economy was doomed to experience inflation due to its massive spending of billions during the War. The already beat down economy was then exacerbated by a worldwide oil crisis and high fuel prices. Which altogether contributed to ongoing economic crises throughout the 70’s due to the federal budget deficits after the war. Nevertheless, the most significant achievement of the United States when being involved in the Vietnam War was the fact that President Nixon accomplished to ally with the Communist Soviet Union when none of the previous presidents were able to accomplish such a goal.
President Nixon’s establishment of direct relations with the People’s Republic of China was one of his most significant foreign accomplishments. Which resulted in the lifting of the U.S trade and travel restrictions in the following year. Nixon’s visit to China in 1972 was the first by an American President in history. Additionally, President Nixon was even the first president to visit Russia, specifically, Moscow. There, he and the Soviet Union leaders signed and formalized the “Basic Principles of U.S.-Soviet Relations”, which defined the new relationship between the two countries in a new era of détente. More significantly, they signed the nuclear arms limitation treaties known as SALT or Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.
Overall, the most significant legacies of the Vietnam War were the ambitious acts of President Nixon; especially his part in the nuclear arms control agreements with the Soviet Union and the diplomatic opening to China. Nonetheless, the livelihood of veterans who participated in the war is in fact quite detrimental. The veterans haunting experiences were later made into movies and books like “The Things They Carried”. Which is about a man and his experience in the Vietnam War.
All in all, it is known that the Vietnam War was one of the longest wars in American History as well as the most costly. It was a divisive conflict that pitted Communist North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its ally, The United States. Under the leadership of President Nixon, the U.S. was able to ally with the two strongest communist nations, the Soviet Union and China. Being in peace with them allowed Nixon to shift all his focus to North Vietnam and the defeat of communism.
He made is very clear that he would go as far as possible to take down North Vietnam. In fact, his foreign policy, the Nixon Doctrine, rooted from the idea of “peace with honor”. Aiming to achieve “peace with honor” in Vietnam and limiting the number of American casualties, Nixon had announced his “secret plan”, Vietnamization. Nixon sought to withdraw U.S. troops, increase aerial and artillery bombardment and giving the South Vietnamese the training and weapons needed to effectively defend themselves.
However, it seems that North Vietnamese communists already had a master plan to wait till Nixon was out of office so that they could easily take over the South with the communist forces. The Republic of South Vietnam was ultimately taken over by North Vietnamese communists because the U.S failed to achieve a military victory. After which, the Vietnam experience became known as “the only war America ever lost”. However, the Vietnam War was a lesson for all nations. Aiming for “peace with honor” was a great strategy and depicted the true identity of the United States.
Although U.S. failed to effectively train the men and women of South Vietnam, it is known that most people of South Vietnam “didn’t even know the difference between communism and democracy”, states Kohn Kerry. He also mentions “they practiced the art of survival by siding with whichever military force was present at a particular time”. Therefore, it would be unfair to believe that the U.S. had failed South Vietnam in protecting them when their own citizens were not educated enough to fight for themselves and had no sense of honor nor loyalty. Especially since they sought to survive on the side of any military force, even if it were Viet Cong (John Kerry, War Statement)
