Lesson 2: Secrecy, Surprise, and Summitry

Lesson Focus

Explore the contradictions of Nixon's foreign policy. He pursued peace with China and the USSR through détente, while secretly escalating the war in Vietnam before orchestrating a U.S. withdrawal. This lesson uncovers a time of secrecy and surprise.

People to Know

Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger

Learning Objectives

• Explain President Nixon’s policy of détente, a strategy aimed at relaxing tensions with communist nations.
• Detail the steps Nixon took to end U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, including the policy of Vietnamization.

Seeking to be a peacemaker, President Nixon shifted from a policy of confrontation to one of negotiation.
He and his national security adviser, Henry A. Kissinger, pursued détente, a relaxation of tensions with communist nations. This led to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) with the Soviet Union, starting in 1969.
These efforts resulted in a 1972 Moscow summit agreement to limit nuclear weapons, marking a major step in reducing Cold War hostility.

Nixon believed that engaging with China could pressure the Soviet Union, its communist rival, into being more cooperative.
Following his adviser Henry A. Kissinger's secret diplomatic mission, Nixon made a historic visit to China in February 1972, meeting with Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou En-lai.
This surprising move began the process of normalizing relations between the U.S. and China, dramatically altering the landscape of global politics and weakening the communist bloc.

President Nixon faced a difficult dilemma in Vietnam, with stalled peace talks and rising public opposition at home.
The 1971 leak of the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg revealed decades of government deception, further damaging public trust. While publicly talking peace, Nixon secretly ordered the bombing of Cambodia in 1969 and an invasion in 1970.
This secret expansion of the war intensified anti-war protests and severely damaged the administration's credibility.

To quiet opposition and withdraw from Vietnam, Nixon implemented a new strategy.
He began the policy of Vietnamization, which involved a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops while training South Vietnamese forces to take over the fighting. This was combined with intense bombing campaigns to pressure North Vietnam.
Pay special attention: A cease-fire was signed in January 1973, ending direct U.S. military involvement, though the war itself continued until 1975.

In October 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel, starting the Yom Kippur War. The U.S. responded by sending billions in military aid to Israel.
In retaliation, Arab oil-producing nations placed an embargo on oil shipments to the U.S. and its allies.
This embargo triggered a severe energy crisis, with soaring fuel prices. The crisis was eventually eased through the “shuttle diplomacy” of Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger.