The situation worsened and in 1968 Nixon won the election with a promise to end the war in Vietnam. However, Nixon continued with the bombing including North Vietnam with the aim of bringing the Communists to the negotiating table. Ultimately a peace accord was signed between North Vietnam and the Americans which earned both Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho the Nobel Peace prize. But violations by both sides occurred frequently with the intensification of capturing control of rural areas between the North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese armies. The Accord was declared dead by South Vietnam in 1974. By the time Nixon signed the Accord it became clear that the war could not be won and a face-saving accord was the only option. When he assumed office in 1969, he was convinced about the need for a new approach as the US presence had become untenable.

Early in 1969, in South Vietnam, there were half a million US soldiers, 50,000 South Koreans and 75,000 South Vietnamese against 450,000 Vietcong and approximately 70,000 North Vietnamese troops. In this situation, Nixon introduced the new idea called ‘Vietnamization’, by which the US would re-arm and train the South Vietnamese army to take care of the defence of South Vietnam, allowing gradual withdrawal of US troops which led to the reduction of US troops to half by mid-1971. Nixon resumed heavy bombing of North Vietnam again along with the Ho Chi Minh trail through Laos and Kampuchea. But this did not change the ground reality and by the end of 1972, the Viet Cong effectively controlled the entire western half of the country. Nixon was under tremendous pressure both at home and abroad to withdraw. There were a number of reasons for building this huge pressure:

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(1) the revulsion caused by the massive bombing of North Vietnam, Laos and Kampuchea;

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(2) the extensive use of chemicals to destroy jungle foliage and of inflammable napalm jelly which burnt people alive;

(3) the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians and

(4) brutal killings of captured Viet Cong soldiers and civilians which were highlighted by the media throughout the world.

The last nail was the publication of the photograph of a girl running........

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