January 23, 1973: President Nixon Announces the Vietnam War Is Over

January 23, 1973: President Richard Nixon announces that a peace agreement has been reached, ending the Vietnam War.

In this quote, "the Republic of Vietnam" is South Vietnam, and its capitol is Saigon; and "the Democratic Republic of Vietnam" is North Vietnam, and its capitol is Hanoi.

In Nixon's words, from the Oval Office at the White House:

The following statement is being issued at this moment in Washington and Hanoi:

At 12:30 Paris time today, January 23, 1973, the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam was initialed by Dr. Henry Kissinger on behalf of the United States, and Special Adviser Le Duc Tho on behalf of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam [North Vietnam]...

[T]he United States and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam [South Vietnam] express the hope that this agreement will insure stable peace in Vietnam and contribute to the preservation of lasting peace in Indochina and Southeast Asia.

That concludes the formal statement. Throughout the years of negotiations, we have insisted on peace with honor. In my addresses to the Nation from this room of January 25 and May 8, I set forth the goals that we considered essential for peace with honor.

In the settlement that has now been agreed to, all the conditions that I laid down then have been met.
A cease-fire, internationally supervised, will begin at 7 p.m., this Saturday, January 27, Washington time.

Within 60 days from this Saturday, all Americans held prisoners of war throughout Indochina will be released. There will be the fullest possible accounting for all of those who are missing in action.

During the same 60-day period, all American forces will be withdrawn from South Vietnam.

The people of South Vietnam have been guaranteed the right to determine their own future, without outside interference...

We shall continue to aid South Vietnam within the terms of the agreement and we shall support efforts by the people of South Vietnam to settle their problems peacefully among themselves.

It was 3 days into Nixon's 2nd term. He had run in 1968 on ending the war. He could have ended the war whenever he wanted it, by unilaterally withdrawing American troops. Instead, he used the war to his advantage in running for re-election in 1972, and it worked.

Nevertheless, when that 1st term ended on January 20, 1973, the war was not over. So Nixon should be considered to have forfeited any credit he, and anyone in his Administration (most significantly, then-National Security Adviser Kissinger), has gotten for ending it.

The announcement also comes one day after the death of former President Lyndon Johnson, who turned America's role in the war from pretty much an advisory capacity to that of a major player. LBJ had tried to bring the war to a close in his last year as President, but failed -- or, possibly, was sabotaged just before the 1968 election. He died without knowing that the war was about to end.

Nixon did that. And you thought Donald Trump was petty. Nixon, too, believed in government by spite.

None of the many demonstrations or other political acts had anything to do with it. All the ones undertaken while LBJ was in office did was lead to Nixon's election, and all the ones undertaken while Nixon was in office were a waste of time. Yes, the public turned against the war, but that didn't matter at all, because Nixon ended the war exactly when he wanted to: When he no longer needed it, and after LBJ died.

Except the war didn't end. There were still American troops there, if not fighting. When Nixon resigned due to his role in the Watergate scandal on August 9, 1974, there were still American troops in Vietnam. On April 30, 1975, the last troops were evacuated, on the order of President Gerald Ford.

From the time Nixon took office until those troops left was six years and three months. An additional 21,257 American military personnel were killed in combat. That's 36 percent of all U.S. deaths in the war, more than 1 out of every 3. Thousands upon thousands more were wounded and/or psychologically scarred for life. And the bombings of targets in Vietnam, North and South alike, may have killed up to 2 million more people, military and civilian. And the April 30, 1970 incursion into Cambodia destabilized that country, leading to horrific acts by the government that took over.

And at the end of that period? Vietnam was united, it was governed by Communists, from Hanoi, and Saigon had been renamed for the founding father of North Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City. And Cambodia was also Communist, leading to the genocide known as "The Killing Fields."

Like I said: Nixon could have ended the war whenever he wanted it, by unilaterally withdrawing American troops. And the exact same result would likely have happened. Minus the extra casualties on both sides. And minus the Cambodian genocide. Today, Cambodia is officially free, but still somewhat authoritarian in nature; and Vietnam is still, at least officially, united under Communism.

So why the extra 6 years and change? And why call it "peace with honor"? It was no more peace with honor than the 1938 Munich Agreement with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler was, as British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain called it, "peace for our time."

*

January 23, 1973 was a Tuesday. Baseball and football were out of season. The NBA played its All-Star Game, at the Chicago Stadium. The New York Knicks, who would go on to win the NBA Championship, were represented on the East team by Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley. The East team beat the West team, 104-84. Dave Cowens of the Boston Celtics led East scorers with 15 points. Nate "Tiny" Archibald of the Kansas City-Omaha Kings led all scorers with 17 points.  

There were 4 games played that night in the American Basketball Association: 

* The New York Nets lost to the Indiana Pacers, 110-103 at the Indiana Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis. George McGinnis scored 35 points for the Pacers, who would go on to win the ABA Championship for the 3rd time in 4 seasons.

* The Carolina Cougars beat the Memphis Tams, 124-122 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis.

* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Dallas Chaparrals, 131-112 at the Moody Coliseum in Dallas. Dan Issel scored 33 for the Colonels. The Chaps would move the next season, becoming the San Antonio Spurs.

* And the Utah Stars beat the Denver Rockets, 108-104 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. Anticipating being invited into the NBA, and knowing there was already a team there named the Houston Rockets, in 1974, the Denver franchise adopted the name of the 1st NBA team in their city, the Nuggets.

There were 3 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders had the biggest win of their expansion season, beating the California Golden Seals, 8-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Philadelphia Flyers and the Detroit Red Wings played to a tie, 4-4 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* And the Minnesota North Stars and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 5-5 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

And there were 3 games played in the World Hockey Association:

* The Cleveland Crusaders beat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-4 in overtime at the Cleveland Arena.

* The Chicago Cougars beat the Quebec Nordiques, 7-1 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago.

* And the Houston Aeros beat the Ottawa Nationals, 11-3 at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston.