Final Paper

In this Final Paper, you must take the role of an advisor to President Nixon on April 25, 1972. On that day, President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discussed policy options that would end America’s military involvement in Vietnam. At that time, the United States was supporting the government of South Vietnam in its struggle against the communist government of North Vietnam. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union with weapons and diplomatic support at world bodies such as the United Nations. The proxy war between the pro-American South Vietnamese government and the pro-Soviet North Vietnamese government was a bloody chapter in the Cold War between nuclear two super powers. The fighting in Vietnam between the North and the South Vietnamese governments had been going on since the mid-1950s, but it was not until 1965 that the U.S. intervened in a significant way through the deployment of regular army units. By the early 1970s, however, antiwar sentiment in the United States had reached its high-water mark, characterized by massive demonstrations that took place throughout the country. Consequently, President Nixon came under relentless pressure to get U.S. troops out of Vietnam. However, powerful pro-war elements in Congress forced Nixon to demand certain concessions from North Vietnam in exchange for peace; this would help the U.S. save face in the eyes of world opinion. After all, they argued, the United States, a nuclear superpower, could not be seen turning tail and running away from its commitments.