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Episode 9: Crossing into Cambodia

Nixon鈥檚 Cambodian campaign fans antiwar flames and deepens divide between Americans

I鈥檓 not going to be the first American President to lose a war.

In a coup strongly encouraged by the United States, a U.S.-friendly government came to power in Cambodia. The Vietnamese Communists had long used neutral Cambodia as a place to regroup and store weapons. President Nixon planned to send ground groups to Cambodia to attack Communist sanctuaries and central headquarters. One historical interpretation of Nixon鈥檚 strategy is that he hoped to destabilize the enemy in order to provide a 鈥渄ecent interval鈥� in which South Vietnam could fend for itself while American troops pulled out.

Nixon televised his decision to initiate the Cambodian campaign. This apparent expansion of the war detonated an explosion of antiwar activity that escalated to a national crisis when four students were shot at a protest at Kent State University in Ohio. The public was unaware that Nixon had been secretly bombing Cambodia since mid-March 1969鈥攁n escalation of a covert bombing campaign started by Johnson in 1965.

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Episode 10: Fighting While Talking

The North Vietnamese 鈥淪pring Offensive鈥� and the American 鈥淐hristmas Bombing鈥�

The bastards have never been bombed like they鈥檙e going to be bombed this time.

In February 1970, Henry Kissinger began back channel negotiations with North Vietnam. Hoping to gain an edge in these deliberations, North Vietnam sent 122,000 main force units to attack South Vietnam in March. 听Nixon was enraged by the听鈥淪pring Offensive.鈥� It threatened his reelection and his budding relationship with the People鈥檚 Republic of China and the Soviet Union, whom he hoped might abandon North Vietnam for the promise of improved American relations.听

In October, a defeated North Vietnam made concessions and Kissinger announced 鈥減eace is at hand.鈥� But South Vietnamese President Thieu balked at the agreement and demanded changes. When Kissinger attempted to renegotiate, the talks collapsed. Nixon blamed North Vietnam and ordered a massive 鈥淐hristmas Bombing鈥� to bring both sides back to the table.

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Episode 11: Paris Peace Accords

Peace is declared but not achieved

Today [we] have concluded an agreement to end the war and bring peace with honor in Vietnam.

After Nixon鈥檚 鈥淐hristmas Bombing,鈥� North Vietnam returned to the negotiating table. On January 27, 1973, the Paris Peace Accords officially ended the war in Vietnam. The final agreement was only superficially different from the draft reached in October 1972. South Vietnamese President Thieu reluctantly signed after Nixon secretly promised 鈥渟wift and severe retaliatory action鈥� if North Vietnam violated it.

Nixon and Kissinger declared they had achieved 鈥減eace with honor鈥� and hoped it would last long enough to give Saigon a fighting chance.

In fact the war was far from over. Fighting between Saigon and Hanoi continued and even increased in parts of South Vietnam. North Vietnam began preparations to overtake the South. President Nixon, embroiled in the Watergate scandal, did not have the political capital to provide the backup he had repeatedly promised his ally.

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Episode 12: Fall of Saigon

The Communists conquer Saigon

You ran away and left us to do the job that you could not do.

After the Paris Peace Agreement, the Communists continued to infiltrate South Vietnam. The 1973 Case-Church Amendment prohibited U.S. military activity in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia without congressional approval. The United States continued to supply its ally with some military equipment and arms.

North Vietnamese Army forces attacked major cities in the highlands in March 1975. The South Vietnamese Army crumbled. President Ford requested additional aid from Congress. His persistence had a symbolic purpose. It bolstered U.S. credibility and allowed the administration to blame Congress for Saigon鈥檚 fall. A frenzied, last-minute evacuation of American civilians and South Vietnamese citizens at risk of retaliation by the communists ended just hours before a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed the Imperial Palace gates. In the years that followed, a total of 1.6 million Vietnamese refugees fled the Communist regime.

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