Explain the methods used by President Nixon in an attempt to gain peace with honour in Vietnam.

Nixon used a variety of methods to try and end the war in Vietnam. After the Tet Offensive it became clear to Nixon (and his predecessor Johnson) that the war could not be won militarily. From 1969 to 1973, Nixon and Kissinger were determined to end US involvement in Vietnam. China and the USSR had fallen out massively and by late 1969 it seemed possible for a war to break out between them. Nixon definitely tried to exploit this; in 1970 he began Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) with the USSR. This encouraged Moscow to limit nuclear weapons and also to advise North Vietnam to end the war. Meanwhile, Nixon was also improving relationships with China. In February 1972, he asked China to pressure North Vietnam into ending the war just as with the USSR. Kissinger had also been having regular meetings with the chief Vietnamese peace negotiator, Le Duc Tho, from early 1969. In Vietnam, the process of Vietnamisation had begun the building up of South Vietnamese forces and withdrawing US troops. This meant that although the US were still supplying Vietnamese forces, they were gradually decreasing American involvement. By the end of 1971, almost 400,000 US troops left Vietnam. While all this was happening, Nixon didnt want to appear to be handing Vietnam to the Communists so he increased bombing campaigns against North Vietnam. He also caused outrage by invading Viet Cong bases in Cambodia, effectively widening the war into a sovereign state. Even American citizens were angry at this decision, but Nixon got the message of strength across. Finally, in Paris in January 1973 a peace agreement was signed by Nixon, Le Duc Tho and the South Vietnamese President Thieu. The door was now open for all American troops to leave Vietnam and Nixon described the agreement as peace with honour. By March 1973, the last of the American forces had left Vietnam.