sold Nixon: I Only Seek “a just peace” in Vietnam

By the spring of 1971, there were still well over 300,000 American troops in Vietnam and the war continued apace with high American casualties and with no end in sight. A new organization, ‘Vietnam Veterans Against the War,’ begin a week of nationwide protests on April 24 and a mass demonstration is held in Washington that same week, attracting nearly 200,000. April 29, 1971 saw American deaths in Vietnam surpass 45,000. A number of Senators and Representatives demanded a speedier winding down of the war and sought to bring this about by introducing amendments tomilitary expenditure bills to prevent the use of funds for the deployment or maintenance of United States armed forces in Indochina after specified dates. Then, on June 13, 1971, the New York Times published the Pentagon Papers, which showed that the government misled the country in getting into the Vietnam War in the first place.

The Nixon administration pulled out all the stops to kill the amendments imposing a deadline for withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Indochina, claiming they would lengthen the war, and amidst great clamor, managed to do so. The timetables were defeated in the Senate on two votes on June 16 and in the House on the following day. As a meaningless sop, on June 22 the Senate passed a non-binding resolution urging removal of all American troops from Vietnam by year’s end.

Typed Letter Signed on White House letterhead, Washington, June 24, 1971, to Republican Representative Del Clawson of California, claiming all he seeks is a just peace. “During the consideration of the military procurement bill for the coming fiscal year, a number of amendments were proposed seeking to legislate a deadline for American involvement in Indochina. The debate centered on the Nedzi-Whelan amendment, which the House rejected June 17th by a vote of 254 to 158. This action by the House of Representatives helped materially to strengthen the efforts of this Administration to achieve a cease-fire, the release of American prisoners, and the negotiation of a just peace. I appreciate very much your vote and those cast by 253 of your colleagues. While we continue to reduce American forces in Indochina, various proposals may be advanced in Congress similar to  Nedzi-Whelan. Their adoption would seriously jeopardize the progress we are making in ending American involvement in Vietnam and in achieving a just peace. I look forward to working with you in the months ahead so that together we might increase the chances not only of ending this war but also of ensuring that other Americans will not have to fight other wars in the future.”

The war drug on until 1973, by which time an additional 10,000 Americans had been killed. Then the U.S. pulled out and the war was soon lost altogether.