THE MAKING OF A NATION - November 7, 2002: Richard Nixon, Part 2
By Jeri Watson
VOICE 1:
This is Rich Kleinfeldt.
VOICE 2:
And this is Doug Johnson with THE MAKING OF A NATION, a VOA Special English program about the
history of the United States.
(Theme)
Today, we continue the story of the thirty-seventh president of the United States,
Richard Nixon.
((Music Bridge)
)
VOICE 1:
It is nineteen-sixty-nine in America. Richard Nixon is in the first year of his first term in
office. His biggest foreign policy problem is the continuing war in Vietnam. During the election campaign, he
had promised to do something to end the war. Some Americans believe the United States should withdraw from
Vietnam immediately. Bring the soldiers back home, they say. Others believe the United States should take
whatever measures are necessary to win. Expand the ground war, they say, or use nuclear weapons.
VOICE 2:
The decision is not easy. Withdrawing allied troops would leave South Vietnam alone to fight against Communist
North Vietnam. And that was the reason the United States became involved in the conflict. It wanted to prevent
the Communists from taking over the South. Expanding the military effort would mean more deaths. Already, by
nineteen-sixty-nine, more Americans had died in Vietnam than in the Korean war.
VOICE 1:
For Richard Nixon, the war is a terrible test. If he is not able to deal with it, his presidency could end like Lyndon
Johnson's ended. Johnson decided not to run for re-election after he lost public and political support for his war
policies.
How did the new president deal with the problem. Like Johnson, he made decisions based on
information from his advisers. His most important adviser was Henry Kissinger. Kissinger
was an expert on foreign relations. He later served as Nixon's secretary of state.
Together, they tried many ways to settle the conflict in Vietnam. It took several years to end
American involvement there.
VOICE 2:
The American efforts were both diplomatic and military. The Nixon administration started
new, secret peace talks in Paris. The official peace talks were taking place in Paris at the same time. The
administration withdrew some troops from Vietnam.
Yet it sent other troops into Cambodia secretly. And it began dropping bombs on Laos. It also started dropping
bombs on North Vietnam again. Former president Johnson had stopped the bomb attacks a few years earlier.
((music Bridge))
VOICE 1:
Efforts to end American involvement did not begin suddenly. For his first eight months in office, President Nixon
made no major policy changes. Then, in October, nineteen-sixty-nine, he ordered the withdrawal of sixty-
thousand troops.
He said he acted to speed the peace talks. He also ordered American commanders to give the South Vietnamese
most of the responsibility for fighting.
VOICE 2:
Americans were happy that fewer troops would be involved. But many were unhappy that the withdrawal was not
complete. Huge anti-war demonstrations took place in the United States in the autumn of nineteen-sixty-nine. On
November fifteenth, several hundred thousand people protested in Washington, D-C.
President Nixon tried to explain his policy to anti-war protesters. A slow withdrawal of troops is not the easy
way, he told them, but it is the right way. He also continued his efforts for a military victory.
VOICE 1:
In the spring of nineteen-seventy, American and South Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia. They attacked
communist supply centers there. Early the following year, the Nixon administration decided to provide air and
artillery support for a South Vietnamese invasion of Laos. The goal was to stop supplies from reaching North
Vietnam through that country.
The military action in Laos lasted forty-four days. South Vietnamese forces destroyed many enemy weapons.
However, they also suffered many deaths and injuries. And many American planes were shot down. After six
weeks, the South Vietnamese were forced to withdraw.
VOICE 2:
Many members of the United States Congress were angry. They said the invasion of Laos was another in a long
series of failures. The Nixon administration had said that the United States was winning the war. Opposition
lawmakers said the administration was lying. Criticism by the American public grew louder, too.
President Nixon answered by saying again that the United States must not permit North Vietnam to take over
South Vietnam. Former president Johnson had said the same thing. For a long time, many Americans accepted it.
As the war continued, however, public opinion changed.
In nineteen-sixty-five, sixty-one percent of those questioned approved the war. By nineteen-seventy-one, sixty-
one percent did not approve.
((Music Bridge))
VOICE 1:
The official peace talks in Paris offered little hope of settlement. Over a period of several years, each side made
proposals. Then each side rejected the proposals. One American observer said: "As long as either side thinks it
can win a military victory, there is no hope for official peace talks."
President Nixon wanted to ease public tension and anger over the war. So he announced that Henry Kissinger had
held twelve secret meetings with North Vietnamese officials. But the secret meetings made no more progress
than the official talks.
VOICE 2:
In late March nineteen-seventy-two, North Vietnam launched a major offensive. In May, Nixon ordered
increased bomb attacks against roads and railways in the North. By the end of August, the Communist offensive
had been stopped. Yet many lives had been lost. The pressure to withdraw American forces grew stronger.
For the next five months, the Nixon administration continued a policy of official talks, secret meetings, and
increased military action. Finally, the president announced that an agreement had been reached at the peace talks
in Paris. There would be a ceasefire. And negotiators from the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and
the Viet Cong would sign the official agreement.
VOICE 1:
Under the terms of the agreement, all American and allied forces would withdraw from South Vietnam. The
North and South would be free to settle their conflict without interference from other countries. President Nixon
made the official announcement from the White House.
NIXON: "At twelve-thirty Paris time today, January twenty-three, nineteen-seventy-three, the agreement on
ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam was initialed by Doctor Henry Kissinger on behalf of the United
States and special adviser Le Duc Tho on behalf of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The agreement will be
formally signed by the parties participating in the Paris conference on Vietnam on January twenty-seven,
nineteen-seventy-three, at the international conference center in Paris. ... The United States and the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam express the hope that this agreement will insure stable peace in Vietnam and contribute to
the preservation of lasting peace in Indochina and Southeast Asia."
((Music Bridge))
VOICE 2:
Another foreign policy problem during the Nixon administration was China. The president had much greater
success dealing with this problem than with Vietnam. Communists took power in China in nineteen-forty-nine.
However, the United States did not recognize the Communist government. Instead, it recognized the Nationalist
government in Taiwan.
In the early nineteen-seventies, the Nixon administration began trying to improve relations. It eased restrictions
on travel to China. And it supported a visit to China by the United States table tennis team. Then, President
Nixon made a surprise announcement. He, too, would visit China.
VOICE 1:
The historic event took place in February, nineteen-seventy-two. Chinese leaders Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai
greeted the American president. Nixon and Zhou held talks that opened new possibilities for trade. The next year,
Nixon sent a representative to open a diplomatic office in Beijing. After more than twenty years, the two
countries were communicating again. They established official relations in nineteen-seventy-nine.
VOICE 2:
Many Americans expressed pleasure that tensions between the two countries had
decreased. Many were proud to see their president standing at the Great Wall of China.
History experts would later agree that it was the greatest moment in the presidency of
Richard Nixon.
(Theme)
VOICE 1:
This program of THE MAKING OF A NATION was written by Jeri Watson and
produced by Paul Thompson. This is Rich Kleinfeldt.
VOICE 2:
And this is Doug Johnson. Join us again next week for VOA Special English program about the history of the
United States.
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