1970's Government and Politics | Cold War: The Vietnam War Ends

Renewed Bombing.

Although by fall 1971 public protests against the Vietnam War waned, institutional opposition to the war—especially to Nixon's war program—increased. Congress moved toward ending the war by cutting off financial and military support. In September the White House barely defeated a bill to end the draft and thereby end the war. Various proposals seeking to cut off military appropriations for Vietnam were tabled. With the 1972 presidential election on the horizon, Nixon feared that prolonging the war might jeopardize his reelection. He was just as afraid that losing South Vietnam to the Communists would also compromise his electoral chances. Yet Vietnamization did not work, and peace negotiations were stalled. Worse, from Nixon's standpoint, was the likelihood that the North Vietnamese would launch a massive military offensive in the spring of 1972. They had done so during the last presidential election year,...