Title: The Vietnam War (article) | 1960s America | Khan Academy
Headings: The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War
Overview
Origins of the war in Vietnam
Lyndon Johnson and the war in Vietnam
Richard Nixon and Vietnam
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Vietnam War

Content: Heightened opposition to the war was one of the major factors in Johnson’s decision not to run for re-election in 1968. Richard Nixon and Vietnam
Richard Nixon campaigned for the presidency with a “secret plan” to end the war in Vietnam. Once in office, his administration sought to achieve “peace with honor.” Nixon ultimately expanded the war into neighboring Laos and Cambodia, while simultaneously encouraging the “ Vietnamization ” of the war effort, which entailed the gradual withdrawal of US troops and an increasing reliance on the South Vietnamese armed forces. By the end of 1969, the number of American troops in Vietnam had been cut in half. The Paris Peace Accords established the terms according to which the last remaining US troops in Vietnam would be withdrawn. In 1975, the North Vietnamese finally achieved the objective of uniting the country under one communist government. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam was formally established on July 2, 1976, and Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. Though the outcome of the war was a clear defeat for the United States, the countries surrounding Vietnam did not subsequently fall to communism, demonstrating the flawed reasoning of the domino theory. The war in Vietnam had lasting consequences for US foreign policy.