Examine President Nixon's threefold plan to unilaterally de-escalate the Vietnam War
Examine President Nixon's threefold plan to unilaterally de-escalate the Vietnam War
While conducting negotiations with North Vietnam, U.S. President Richard M. Nixon began a program of “de-escalation,” or reduction of U.S. combat forces, and of “Vietnamization,” or development of South Vietnam's ability to wage war on its own. From Vietnam Perspective (1985), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.While conducting negotiations with North Vietnam, U.S. President Richard M. Nixon began a program of “de-escalation,” or reduction of U.S. combat forces, and of “Vietnamization,” or development of South Vietnam's ability to wage war on its own. From Vietnam Perspective (1985), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.After South Vietnamese Premier Ngo Dinh Diem canceled reunification elections scheduled for 1956, the communist Viet Minh decided on war. From Vietnam Perspective (1985), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.In August 1964, in response to an alleged attack by North Vietnamese patrol boats on U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin, the U.S. Congress authorized Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson to take any action necessary to deal with threats against U.S. forces and allies in Southeast Asia. From Vietnam Perspective (1985), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.In March 1965 U.S. Marines landed at Da Nang, South Vietnam, and regular troops of the North Vietnamese Army continued to infiltrate into the South. From Vietnam Perspective (1985), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.The Tet Offensive was a military failure for the Viet Cong, but, at the same time, it devastated the American public's support for the war. From Vietnam Perspective (1985), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.During World War II the communist Viet Minh were the only effective Vietnamese force resisting the Japanese occupation of French Indochina. From Vietnam Perspective (1985), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Learn about American college students' protests against U.S. attacks on Vietnamese communist sanctuaries in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. From Vietnam Perspective (1985), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.An overview of Richard Nixon.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.From 1946 to 1954, the communist Viet Minh battled the French in what is often called the First Indochina War. From Vietnam Perspective (1985), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
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Transcript
NARRATOR: While continuing to negotiate with the stubborn North Vietnamese, President Nixon put into action a three-part plan to unilaterally de-escalate the war. First he announced a timetable for the gradual withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam. Second, the war would be "Vietnamized"; that is, as American forces withdrew from the fighting, South Vietnamese forces would replace them. And third, to reduce American casualties, the strategy of "search and destroy" would be replaced, and Americans would fight only when threatened or attacked by the enemy.
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