End of the War & effects
the war finally ends
The failings of Vietnamization and growing anti-war sentiment at home forced President Nixon to find a final way out of the conflict. A 1971 poll found that 2/3rds of Americans favored pulling troops out of Vietnam, even if it meant a North Vietnamese, and therefore communist, takeover of the whole peninsula. Many believed that to win re-election in 1972, he had to end the war. In October 1972, the United States and North Vietnam came to terms on a peace settlement. This peace treaty fell through, but then in January 1973, the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Vietcong signed the Paris Peace Accords. The parties agreed to a cease-fire and U.S. troop withdrawal from South Vietnam. There were also negotiations for the return of POWs, Prisoners of War.
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Fall of Saigon
For the United States, the war was over. For the Vietnamese, however, it continued. Neither North nor South honored the cease-fire or worked toward a diplomatic settlement of their differences. By the end of April, 1975, the communists had taken the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon. After decades of fighting and millions of deaths, Vietnam was united under one flag – a communist one.
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effects of the war
Besides the 60,000 American dead, 300,000 American wounded, and 2 million Vietnamese deaths, the end of the war did not spell peace for the region. Communism fully engulfed Cambodia, resulting in a genocide led by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Over 2.5 million American men fought in the war, yet unlike World War I and II, these soldiers were not welcomed home with parades. Many suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder with few avenues for assistance. Vietnam also impacted domestic policy at home. LBJ’s Great Society program, aimed at eliminating poverty and addressing civil rights, could not be effectively implemented without raising taxes. The United States simply couldn’t pay for both the Vietnam War and domestic programs. The war also undermined Americans’ trust in their leaders. In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Act. The act restricted the President’s war-making powers requiring him to consult with Congress 48 hours after committing American forces to a foreign conflict. This act was Congress’s attempt to check the president’s power and stop the growth of an “imperial presidency.”
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tinker v. des moines
In December 1965, Marybeth and John Tinker planned to wear black arm bands to school signifying their protest of the Vietnam War. School officials became aware of the plan beforehand and adopted regulation banning the wearing of such armbands. Failure to comply with this regulation would result in suspension until the student retumed to school without the armbands. Both Tinkers went ahead and wore the black armbands to school. They were suspended and told not to return with the armbands. The Tinkers claimed that their rights of free speech and expression, which are protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, had been violated, and that they should have been allowed to attend school wearing the armbands. The constitutional issue in this case was whether Marybeth and John Tinker have a First Amendment right to free speech to wear black armbands as a symbol of protest in a public school.
The Court decided that the students did have a right to wear the armbands. It reasoned that the wearing of the armbands was an exercise of the students' right to free, silent, symbolic speech, which is protected under the First Amendment: "Students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate, and therefore are entitled to the free expression of their views as long as there is no substantial or material interference of the educational process."
The Court decided that the students did have a right to wear the armbands. It reasoned that the wearing of the armbands was an exercise of the students' right to free, silent, symbolic speech, which is protected under the First Amendment: "Students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate, and therefore are entitled to the free expression of their views as long as there is no substantial or material interference of the educational process."
26th amendment
In 1971, the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. This amendment extended the vote to people ages 18 and older. By lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, this amendment added almost 12 million new voters to the American electorate. The ratification of this amendment has been seen as a result of the participation of the United States in the Vietnam War, where thousands of Americans between the ages of 18 and 21 died.
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