As the Soviet's influence spread through Southeast Asia U.S. forces would again fight indirect war against communism. The Geneva Accords of 1954 separated Vietnam leaving the North occupied by the communist Ho Chi Minh and the south by the U.S. supported anti-communist Ngo Dinh Diem. By 1957 the communist opposition group in the south known as the Vietcong began attacking the Diem government. The U.S. started sending troops 9,000 miles away from home to help support South Vietnam. The Johnson Administration's desire to increase U.S. forces in the area was satiated after the North Vietnamese allegedly torpedoed the U.S.S. Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin on August, 4th 1964. On August 7th congress adopted "The Tonkin Gulf Resolution" which granted the president broad military powers in Vietnam. By February 1965 Johnson responded by unleashing "Operation Rolling Thunder" the beginning of sustained bombing of North Vietnam. By June 50,000 U.S. troops were battling the Vietcong in the jungles off the South China Sea. (Danzer et al.).
Over the next two years Johnson was responsible for sending up to 500,000 troops to Vietnam. Televised accounts of what was happening gave American a first hand look at the reality of war. Soon support for the war began slipping. At the end of the Johnson Administration there was drought in Americans about what was really happening in Vietnam. There were discrepancies in what the government and the media were reporting.
During the 1968 election Richard Nixon ran under the proposal that the U.S. would end its involvement in the war. His victory had lead to the strategy to end American involvement in Vietnam known as Vietnamization. This plan called for the gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops. On April 30th as Americans desire to withdraw was being appeased President Nixon declared to the U.S. that an incursion in Cambodia was launched (Danzer et al). He stated to the nation in his Cambodian Incursion Address, "Tonight, American and South Vietnamese units will attack the headquarters for the entire Communist military operation in South Vietnam. This key control center has been occupied by the North Vietnamese and Vietcong for five years in blatant violation of Cambodia's neutrality." (Nixon). Upon hearing of the invasion college students across the country erupted in protest. These protests initiated the response of Americans to use their persuasive voice to express their opinions about their world.
I will use this speech because of is promotion of war to initiate peace. It is important for me to give both sides of the issue and in this speech Nixon points out that the U. S. must use force to obtain peace. He states: "We take this action not for the purpose of expanding the war into Cambodia, but for the purpose of ending the war in Vietnam, and winning the just peace we all desire." (Nixon).
I have also chosen this speech because of its easy to follow structure. Nixon organizes his speech with background information, options that he has considered, his decision to fight the Vietcong in Cambodia, reasons for this and conclusion. My students will benefit from this speech because of its order. They will be able to structure their own persuasive speeches by analyzing how this piece has been structured. It is important for me to present these students with proper examples of what is expected and Nixon's address does just that.
