No Peace No Honor

The issue date was December 16, 1968 and obviously the cover story is about the war in Vietnam. Richard Nixon had won the election to be the next US president, and the Johnson administration was in it's final weeks. There was still hope that a breakthrough might be possible in the peace talks that were underway in Paris. President Johnson had ordered a halt to the bombing of North Vietnam on October 31st, and that action had cleared the way for substantive negotiations for a cease-fire and eventual resolution of the conflict. This particular issue deals with the Paris peace talks at length.

At the time, it appeared as though the warring parties were on the cusp of an agreement. Johnson's announcement of a bombing halt at the 11th hour had given Vice-President Humphrey a surge that nearly overtook Nixon in the final days of the presidential campaign. Candidate Nixon also struck a conciliatory pose promising to end the war and bring what he called "peace with honor". Exactly how that was to be accomplished was something that the Nixon campaign never bothered to fully explain. There was vague talk of a "secret plan" to end the war, but that was about all.

So, in late 1968 the conditions seemed ripe for a negotiated agreement to end the war. And indeed, there would be a cease-fire and negotiated settlement. In 1973. The question that begs answering is why did it take another four years to arrive at essentially the same place we were at in 1969? Four more bloody years that saw an extension of the war into neighboring countries Laos and Cambodia, both of which were suffered violent upheavals as a result of the invasions. News of the operations in Laos and Cambodia triggered massive demonstrations on college campuses across America, climaxing with the tragic events at Kent State University in Ohio.

Some 30,000 Americans had died in Vietnam in the years leading up to 1969. More then 20,000 more would lose their lives over the course of the next four years. The circumstances surrounding the failure to end the war in 1969 have never been adequately explained. As I pointed out already, there was nothing of any substance gained by dragging the war out for another 48 months. South Vietnam couldn't stand alone in 1973 any more then it would have been able to in 1969. The regime in the south collapsed entirely in 1975, and the country was unified under a communist government. Quite likely the same events would have transpired had a settlement been arrived at in 1969. What would have been different? Well, more then 20,000 American soldiers would have arrived home alive.

Watergate? That was nothing compared to what Nixon did in order to look "strong" in Vietnam. They impeached him for the wrong set of crimes...