Richard Nixon and the Vietnam War Vietnam: American in the War Years Series Editor: David L. Anderson California State University, Monterey Bay TheVietnamWarandthetumultuousinternalupheavalsinAmericathatcoincidedwithit marked a watershed era in U.S. history. These events profoundly challenged America’s heroicself-image.Duringthe1950stheUnitedStatesdefinedSoutheastAsiaasanareaof vital strategic importance. In the 1960s this view produced a costly American military campaignthatcontinuedintotheearly1970s.TheVietnamWarwasthenation’slongest warandendedwithanunprecedentedU.S.failuretoachieveitsstatedobjectives.Simul- taneouswiththisfrustratingmilitaryinterventionandthedomesticdebatethatitproduced wereothertensionscreatedbystudentactivismoncampuses,theblackstruggleforcivil rights,andthewomen’sliberationmovement.Thebooksinthisseriesexplorethecom- plexandcontroversialissuesoftheperiodfromthemid-1950stothemid-1970sinbrief and engaging volumes. To facilitate continued and informed debate on these contested subjects,eachbookexaminesamilitary,political,ordiplomaticissue;theroleofakey individual;oroneofthedomesticchangesinAmericaduringthewar. VolumesPublished AlliesatOdds:America,Europe,andVietnam,1961-1968,byEugeneM.Blang Antiwarriors:TheVietnamWarandtheBattleforAmerica'sHeartsandMinds,by MelvinSmall Democracy'sChildren:TheYoungRebelsofthe1960sandthePowerofIdeals,by EdwardK.Spann LikeRollingThunder:TheAirWarinVietnam,1964-1975,byRonaldB.Frankum,Jr. TheDeadlyBet:LBJ,Vietnam,andthe1968Election,byWalterLaFeber Crossroads:AmericanPopularCultureandtheVietnamGeneration,byMitchellK.Hall TheTetOffensive:Politics,War,andPublicOpinion,byDavidF.Schmitz ColdWarMandarin:NgoDinhDiemandtheOriginsofAmerica'sWarinVietnam,by SethJacobs DebatingVietnam:Fulbright,Stennis,andTheirSenateHearings,byJosephA.Fry Richard Nixon and the Vietnam War The End of the American Century David F. Schmitz ROWMAN&LITTLEFIELD Lanham•Boulder•NewYork•Toronto•Plymouth,UK PublishedbyRowman&Littlefield 4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706 www.rowman.com 10ThornburyRoad,PlymouthPL67PP,UnitedKingdom Copyright©2014byRowman&Littlefield Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany electronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems, withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote passagesinareview. BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Schmitz,DavidF. RichardNixonandtheVietnamWar:TheendoftheAmericancentury/byDavidF.Schmitz p.cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-1-4422-2709-5(cloth:alk.paper)--ISBN978-1-4422-2710-1(electronic) 1.VietnamWar,1961-1975--UnitedStates.2.Nixon,RichardM.(RichardMilhous),1913-1994.3. UnitedStates--Politicsandgovernment--1969-1974.Title. DS558.S3462014 959.704'31--dc23 2013949313 TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Contents Abbreviations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction xiii 1 TheNecessityoftheWarinVietnam 1 2 TheMiddleRoadtotheWhiteHouse 23 3 NixonTakesOver 41 4 ExpansionandCrisis 76 5 TheEndoftheAmericanCentury 110 6 Denouement 136 Conclusions 146 BibliographicEssay 150 Index 156 AbouttheAuthor 162 vii Abbreviations ARVNArmyoftheRepublicofVietnam AWFPapers asPresidentoftheUnitedStates,1953–1961(AnnWhit- man Files), Dwight D. Eisenhower Papers, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presi- dentialLibrary CIACentralIntelligenceAgency COSVNCentralOfficeforSouthVietnam DDELDwightD.EisenhowerPresidentialLibrary DH Series Dulles-Herter Series, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library DMZdemilitarizedzone FRUSForeignRelationsoftheUnitedStates GVNgovernmentofSouthVietnam HAKHenryA.Kissinger JCSJointChiefsofStaff LBJLLyndonB.JohnsonPresidentialLibrary MACVMilitaryAssistanceCommand,Vietnam NATONorthAtlanticTreatyOrganization NIENationalIntelligenceEstimate NLFNationalLiberationFront NSCNationalSecurityCouncil NSCHNationalSecurityCouncilInstitutional(H)Files NSDMNationalSecurityDecisionMemorandums NSSMNationalSecurityStudyMemorandum NVANorthVietnameseArmy NVNNorthVietnam(ese) POWprisonerofwar RNPLRichardNixonPresidentialLibrary SALTStrategicArmsLimitationTreaty SEATOSoutheastAsianTreatyOrganization SVNSouthVietnam(ese) VCVietCong(Vietnamesecommunists) VSSGVietnamSpecialStudiesGroup VVAWVietnamVeteransagainsttheWar ix