vietnam, watergate, ford

Morale Collapse in Vietnam

the severe deterioration of discipline and psychological stability among U.S. troops during the late 1960s and early 1970s, marked by widespread drug use, more deaths from overdoses than combat wounds, nearly one million soldiers going AWOL, frequent acts of insubordination, and hundreds of thousands of dishonorable discharges, revealing the unsustainability of the war

Fragging

the practice in which U.S. soldiers in Vietnam deliberately murdered or attempted to murder their own commanding officers, typically using fragmentation grenades, reflecting deep resentment toward military leadership and resistance to dangerous missions

My Lai Massacre (1968)

the mass killing of over 300 unarmed Vietnamese civilians—including men, women, children, and the elderly—by U.S. Army troops in the village of My Lai, carried out through point-blank executions and later exposed to the public, becoming one of the most powerful symbols of American war crimes and accelerating anti-war sentiment

Vietnam Moratorium (1969)

a nationwide series of coordinated anti-Vietnam War demonstrations involving more than one million Americans who participated in marches, teach-ins, and candlelight vigils to protest civilian casualties and demand an end to U.S. military involvement

Mobilization Day (1969)

one of the largest anti-war demonstrations in U.S. history, drawing approximately 600,000 to 700,000 participants from across American society—including students, elderly citizens, women, hippies, labor unions, working-class Americans, anti-war veterans, and professionals—demonstrating broad-based opposition to the war

Cambodia Incursion (1970)

President Nixon’s decision to expand the Vietnam War into Cambodia in order to destroy North Vietnamese supply lines, which contradicted promises of de-escalation and sparked massive protests at more than 700 college campuses across the United States

Kent State Shootings (1970)

the killing of four unarmed student protesters and the wounding of eleven others by the Ohio National Guard during an anti-war demonstration following the Cambodia incursion, becoming a national symbol of the deep generational and political divisions over the Vietnam War

Jackson State Killings (1970)

the fatal shooting of two unarmed Black students by police during protests at Jackson State College in Mississippi, which received far less national attention than Kent State and highlighted racial inequality in public outrage and media coverage

Hard-Hat Riot (1970)

a violent backlash in New York City in which construction workers attacked anti-war demonstrators and stormed City Hall to raise the American flag, symbolizing working-class and pro-war opposition to student-led protests

Pentagon Papers (1971)

a collection of classified Department of Defense documents leaked to the New York Times that revealed successive U.S. administrations had systematically misled the public about the causes, scope, and progress of the Vietnam War, including false claims about the Gulf of Tonkin incident and secret plans for escalation

Christmas Bombings (1972)

a massive U.S. bombing campaign ordered by President Nixon targeting North Vietnam’s major cities of Hanoi and Haiphong, intended to force North Vietnam back to the negotiating table and widely criticized for its destruction and civilian casualties

Paris Peace Accords (1973)

the agreement signed on January 27, 1973, that formally ended direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, required the return of American prisoners of war within sixty days, allowed approximately 150,000 North Vietnamese troops to remain in South Vietnam, and effectively ensured eventual communist victory

Fall of Saigon (1975)

the capture of South Vietnam’s capital by North Vietnamese forces, marking the final collapse of South Vietnam and the official end of the Vietnam War

Vietnam War Casualties

the immense human cost of the war, including approximately 58,000 American deaths, 1.5 million North and South Vietnamese soldiers killed, and over 2 million Vietnamese civilians dead

Vietnam Syndrome

the widespread reluctance among Americans and U.S. policymakers to commit troops abroad after Vietnam, rooted in fear of prolonged, costly wars with unclear objectives

Domino Theory

the Cold War belief that if one nation fell to communism neighboring nations would inevitably follow, later discredited by the fact that communism did not spread beyond Indochina after the Vietnam War

Nixon Doctrine

Nixon’s foreign policy strategy asserting that while the United States would continue to support allies fighting communism with weapons, funding, and training, it would no longer commit large numbers of American ground troops

Détente

the deliberate easing of Cold War tensions through diplomatic engagement, arms control agreements, and economic exchanges between the United States, the Soviet Union, and China

China Opening (1972)

President Nixon’s historic visit to communist China, where he met Mao Zedong, leading to normalized diplomatic relations, increased trade, and China’s reentry into the global community

SALT I (1972)

the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union that limited the number of nuclear missiles each nation could possess and prohibited the construction of nationwide missile defense systems

Chile Coup (1973)

the U.S.-supported overthrow of democratically elected socialist president Salvador Allende, who had ties to Cuba and the Soviet Union, resulting in Allende’s suicide and the establishment of Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship

Election of 1972

the presidential election in which Republican Richard Nixon overwhelmingly defeated Democrat George McGovern, whose campaign was criticized as too radical and labeled the candidate of “acid, amnesty, and abortion”

Watergate Scandal

the political scandal involving illegal surveillance, political sabotage, and abuse of executive power by the Nixon administration, culminating in the president’s resignation

Watergate Break-In (1972)

the illegal entry into the Democratic National Committee headquarters by operatives connected to Nixon’s reelection campaign in an effort to wiretap and gather political intelligence

CREEP

the Committee to Re-Elect the President, Nixon’s campaign organization that funded and coordinated illegal activities including the Watergate break-in

Saturday Night Massacre (1973)

the event in which President Nixon ordered the firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox, prompting the resignation of senior Justice Department officials and intensifying calls for impeachment

Nixon Resignation (1974)

Richard Nixon’s resignation from the presidency on August 9, 1974, in order to avoid impeachment, making him the first U.S. president to resign

Gerald Ford

the only U.S. president never elected to either the vice presidency or the presidency, having been appointed vice president after Spiro Agnew’s resignation and ascending to the presidency after Nixon resigned

Nixon Pardon

President Ford’s full, free, and absolute pardon of Richard Nixon for any crimes committed during his presidency, intended to help the nation move on but deeply damaging to Ford’s political credibility

Ford’s Domestic Record

Ford’s presidency characterized by frequent vetoes—39 in just 15 months—and efforts to limit government spending during economic instability

Election of 1976

the presidential election in which Democrat Jimmy Carter defeated Republican Gerald Ford, marking the restoration of public trust after Watergate

Jimmy Carter

a conservative Democrat from Georgia who opposed abortion, supported the death penalty, and successfully rebuilt the New Deal coalition to win the presidency in 1976