Gerald Ford
1974-77
1974-77
How would "peace with honor" be carried out?
Background: Gerald Ford ascended to the presidency upon Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974. Detente was the talk of the Cold War. China had been visited by Nixon. Arms talks with the USSR had begun. The American war in Vietnam was over per the Paris accords, but left behind was a nation in turmoil. In South Vietnam, American nation building had not been successful in the decade following the 1963 coup that unseated Diem. The war torn country continued to experience violence and South Vietnam's president Thieu struggled for legitimacy. The American Embassy in Saigon would be the focus of continued diplomatic work until the forced evacuation in 1975.
Documents:
Questions for Examination:
- What effect did the Nixon visit to China have on the North Vietnamese-Chinese relationship?
- Would Congress authorize funding for the Thieu regime and continue nation building in the aftermath of decades of American military intervention?
- Could fear of communism still be enough to discredit the antiwar effort?
- How long would the American people continue to support this nation building effort?
Anti-war protests continued into the mid-70s. Notice the concern over George McGovern and Coretta Scott King (MLK's widow) as leaders who it speculates may be working for Hanoi. If there are communists inside America, the war must go on.
This press release by the Ford administration marked the end of American support and the evacuation of Saigon.
Americans were not the only evacuees in 1975. The South Vietnamese who had allied with the Americans and were part of the nation building process that begins at the local level were seeking protection. Promises had been made. Bonds had been created. These relationships that had formed over the past 30 years created at this time a refugee problem for America.