Vietnamization, 1969
•Anti-war demonstrations became very popular in the U.S.
•President Nixon was elected in 1968 on a peace platform (Tricky Dicky)
•Nixon wanted to find a way out honourably
•Developed Vietnamization with help of Henry Kissinger and Henry Cabot-Lodge•The plan had a two track formula
•1.) Make the south well trained enough militarily that they could withstand the north on their own
•2.) Strengthen the south’s government to attract a broader base
•President Nixon was elected in 1968 on a peace platform (Tricky Dicky)
•Nixon wanted to find a way out honourably
•Developed Vietnamization with help of Henry Kissinger and Henry Cabot-Lodge•The plan had a two track formula
•1.) Make the south well trained enough militarily that they could withstand the north on their own
•2.) Strengthen the south’s government to attract a broader base
U.S. Withdrawals
•American’s began to make their first withdrawals in Aug. 1969
•The air war increased
•B-52s dropped more bombs on North Vietnam than during all of WWII
•1971 almost entirely an air war
•1972 200,000 troops
•Jan. 1973 a cease fire is signed (Americans got their POWs back after 20 years of fighting)
•Aug. 1973 all U.S. forces out of Vietnam
•Spring 1975 all of south Vietnam falls to the north and becomes Communist
•The air war increased
•B-52s dropped more bombs on North Vietnam than during all of WWII
•1971 almost entirely an air war
•1972 200,000 troops
•Jan. 1973 a cease fire is signed (Americans got their POWs back after 20 years of fighting)
•Aug. 1973 all U.S. forces out of Vietnam
•Spring 1975 all of south Vietnam falls to the north and becomes Communist
summery
Vietnamization was a policy of the Richard M. Nixon administration during the Vietnam War, as a result of the Viet Cong's Tet Offensive, to "expand, equip, and train South Vietnam's forces and assign to them an ever-increasing combat role, at the same time steadily reducing the number of U.S. combat troops."