The War EndsChapter 19, Section 4

Widening the War• Henry Kissinger- Nixon’s

Security Adviser– Involved in secret peace

negotiations in Paris– Trying to get “peace

with honor”– Vietnamization

• Pulling US troops out and handing the fighting over to the South Vietnamese

• Laos and Cambodia– Nixon was taking troops

out of Vietnam… and sent them to Laos and Cambodia

– He kept it a secret from the people, congress, some military leaders

– Led to more problems• After the death of Ho Chi

Minh in 1969, North invaded the South

Increasing Protests• Campus Violence

– Kent State University• May 2nd, 1970- Antiwar

demonstrators set the ROTC building on fire

• 2 days later- Students led a rally

• Troops were sent to break up the demonstration, but students started throwing rocks and yelling

• Soldiers started shooting• 4 dead, 9 hurt

• More and More People were Against the War– Radical Groups

• The Weathermen set off over 5,000 bombs as a sign of protest

• My Lai– March 1968- Search and

Destroy mission• 450 women, children,

elderly men were killed

– My Lai Massacre was kept quiet• Commander Calley

charged with murder

• Pentagon Papers– 1971- New York Times– They got their hands on

government documents that showed the history of the war

– Involvement in Vietnam since Truman

– Showed that the government was lying

– Nixon was mad and embarrassed

– Daniel Ellsberg

End of US Involvement• Election of 1972– Nixon was up for re-

election– George McGovern was

the democratic choice• Outspoken against the war

– McGovern hoped the 26th Amendment would help him win• 26th Amendment- Voting

age changes from 21 to 18

• Peace– Nixon and Kissinger

announced they were close to peace• Nixon Won

– Peace wasn’t that close– To get the North to give

in, the US started heavily bombing cities

– In 1973, peace was reached• US would withdraw

troops and help rebuild Vietnam

Legacy of Vietnam• Did the US help?– In April of 1975, the

North invaded the South and took over

– Americans were rushing to get out before it was too late

– Many Vietnamese wanted to escape too

• Cambodia– Communist Khmer

Rouge slaughtered 1.5 million

– Vietnam invaded in 1979 and overthrew the Khmer Rouge

– Occupation lasted until 1989

• Effects on Southeast Asia– Death Count

• South Vietnamese Soldiers: 185,000

• South Vietnamese Civilians: 450,000

• Vietcong and NVA: About 1,000,000

– Environment• 8 million tons of bombs

dropped destroyed the jungles

• Food and water was contaminated

– 700,000 Refugees in US

• Effects on the Vets– About 58,000 Killed in

the Vietnam War– About 600 POWs– About 2,500 MIA– About 300,000 Injured– The stuff used to kill

plants caused cancer– Many can’t adjust to

civilian life• Shell Shock

• Effects on Politics– US spent $150 billion on the war– Didn’t stop Communism– National Debt and Inflation– War Powers Act 1973

• Reminds the executive branch that Congress have the right to declare war

• 60-Day limit on action without congress consent