Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon was elected the 37th President in 1968, and was voted in on a peace platform to end the war
- Pulled troops but increased bombing
- implemented Vietnamization
- Wanted to lessen the tension of the Cold War, so he began detente
- Resigned after the Watergate scandal of 1972
Detente
Detente is the French word for the relaxation of tensions, and there are many reasons why the US sought detente.
- Nuclear and Strategic Parity: The Russians had caught the US in most Military areas
- There was early success with the Nuclear Non proliferation treaty, which limited the spread of nuclear weapons
- Many people thought that detente was a new way of containment, including Kissinger