Posted on Jan 20, 2017
Richard Nixon takes office - Jan 20, 1969 - HISTORY.com
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Richard Nixon is inaugurated as president of the United States and says, “After a period of confrontation [in Vietnam], we are entering an era of negotiation.” Eight years after losing to John F. Kennedy in the 1960 election, Nixon had defeated Hubert H. Humphrey for the presidency.
Shortly after taking office, Nixon put his new team in place. William Rogers replaced Dean Rusk as Secretary of State, Melvin Laird replaced Clark Clifford as Secretary of Defense, and Henry Kissinger replaced Walt Rostow as National Security Adviser.
In 1962, Nixon ran for governor of California and lost in a bitter campaign to Edmund G. (“Pat”) Brown. Most observers believed that Nixon’s political career was over at that point, but by February 1968, he had sufficiently recovered his political standing in the Republican Party to announce his candidacy for president. Taking a stance between the more conservative elements of his party led by Ronald Reagan, and the liberal northeastern wing led by Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Nixon won the nomination on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach.
For his running mate, he chose Spiro T. Agnew, the governor of Maryland. His Democratic opponent, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, was weakened by internal divisions within his own party and the growing dissatisfaction with the Johnson administration’s handling of the war in Vietnam. Although Nixon and Humphrey each gained about 43 percent of the popular vote, the distribution of Nixon’s nearly 32 million votes gave him a clear majority in the electoral college.
@ SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas Capt Christopher MuellerCOL Mikel J. BurroughsSgt Joe LaBrancheSSgt (Join to see)Capt Seid WaddellSrA Christopher Wright LTC Stephen F.PO2 Ed C. PO2 Mark Saffell MSG Tom EarleyPVT James Strait Alan K. PO1 William "Chip" NagelSGT John " Mac " McConnellSSG Leo Bell SFC William Farrell LTC (Join to see) SPC Britanny *Winnie* Balthaser
Shortly after taking office, Nixon put his new team in place. William Rogers replaced Dean Rusk as Secretary of State, Melvin Laird replaced Clark Clifford as Secretary of Defense, and Henry Kissinger replaced Walt Rostow as National Security Adviser.
In 1962, Nixon ran for governor of California and lost in a bitter campaign to Edmund G. (“Pat”) Brown. Most observers believed that Nixon’s political career was over at that point, but by February 1968, he had sufficiently recovered his political standing in the Republican Party to announce his candidacy for president. Taking a stance between the more conservative elements of his party led by Ronald Reagan, and the liberal northeastern wing led by Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Nixon won the nomination on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach.
For his running mate, he chose Spiro T. Agnew, the governor of Maryland. His Democratic opponent, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, was weakened by internal divisions within his own party and the growing dissatisfaction with the Johnson administration’s handling of the war in Vietnam. Although Nixon and Humphrey each gained about 43 percent of the popular vote, the distribution of Nixon’s nearly 32 million votes gave him a clear majority in the electoral college.
@ SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas Capt Christopher MuellerCOL Mikel J. BurroughsSgt Joe LaBrancheSSgt (Join to see)Capt Seid WaddellSrA Christopher Wright LTC Stephen F.PO2 Ed C. PO2 Mark Saffell MSG Tom EarleyPVT James Strait Alan K. PO1 William "Chip" NagelSGT John " Mac " McConnellSSG Leo Bell SFC William Farrell LTC (Join to see) SPC Britanny *Winnie* Balthaser
Richard Nixon takes office - Jan 20, 1969 - HISTORY.com
Posted from history.comPosted in these groups: 
Vietnam War
Warfare
Military History
American History
Office of the President (POTUS)
Vietnam War Warfare Military History American History Office of the President (POTUS)
Posted 8 y ago
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SP5 Mark Kuzinski
Not to worry - I made it home in time after 3 years with the Army - My discharge date was Dec. 26, 1968.
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Hubert Humphrey would have been like President Obama he would have pulled troops out of Vietnam even if North Vietnam was beginning in other offensive.
President Nixon bombed the shit out of North Vietnam to make sure they stopped fighting. Unfortunately, due to Watergate, President Ford was too wimpy to do anything and let Vietnam go into the toilet. A few years ago, I went to a Chinese- Vietnamese TET New Year after my weekend of training. I was still in uniform when I went to a Vietnamese Catholic mass and they had a Vietnamese Special Forces honor guard with the American flag and the Vietnamese flag. They had a playing of the Vietnamese national anthem and they put the South Vietnamese flag down.
There is still a lot of resentment towards North Vietnam but a couple of those South Vietnam Special Forces soldiers were talking to me afterwards and it was sad to see how the whole church Ballroom was full of former South Vietnamese who are now refugees and American citizens sadly recalling their past. A couple of those people walk up to me and they are now Army National Guard Army Reserve soldiers from The Offspring of those boat people and refugees would Escape Vietnam in 1975.
President Nixon bombed the shit out of North Vietnam to make sure they stopped fighting. Unfortunately, due to Watergate, President Ford was too wimpy to do anything and let Vietnam go into the toilet. A few years ago, I went to a Chinese- Vietnamese TET New Year after my weekend of training. I was still in uniform when I went to a Vietnamese Catholic mass and they had a Vietnamese Special Forces honor guard with the American flag and the Vietnamese flag. They had a playing of the Vietnamese national anthem and they put the South Vietnamese flag down.
There is still a lot of resentment towards North Vietnam but a couple of those South Vietnam Special Forces soldiers were talking to me afterwards and it was sad to see how the whole church Ballroom was full of former South Vietnamese who are now refugees and American citizens sadly recalling their past. A couple of those people walk up to me and they are now Army National Guard Army Reserve soldiers from The Offspring of those boat people and refugees would Escape Vietnam in 1975.
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LTC (Join to see)
SFC Dave Beran - thank you for your prospective I learned so much from you and others. I was only seven years old when Nixon came into office and man land on the Moon. LOL
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MSgt Neil Greenfield
I'm not so sure about that. As VP under Johnson, he was the voice of the Johnson administration's VN war policy. He lost to Nixon narrowly, probably because of the way the left disagreed with the way things were going and the images coming out of the war. Remember the Tet offensive? Summary executions caught on film?
After the Paris Peace Accords were negotiated by Kissinger in 1972 or so, there was very little stomach for the US to be there. Even with the Mayaguez incident, there was a measured response by Ford.
I consider President Obama to be more of a pragmatist than anything else. I'm not sure what Humphrey would have done. We'll never know. The one good thing Nixon did (at the time) was open the doors to China. Ford lost to Carter because of backlash to Nixon's pardon.
Nothing is as simple as far as what the right or left claims.
People need to be better tuned into history.
After the Paris Peace Accords were negotiated by Kissinger in 1972 or so, there was very little stomach for the US to be there. Even with the Mayaguez incident, there was a measured response by Ford.
I consider President Obama to be more of a pragmatist than anything else. I'm not sure what Humphrey would have done. We'll never know. The one good thing Nixon did (at the time) was open the doors to China. Ford lost to Carter because of backlash to Nixon's pardon.
Nothing is as simple as far as what the right or left claims.
People need to be better tuned into history.
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LTC (Join to see)
MSgt Neil Greenfield - thank you I remember the Maya question was in 8th grade I was really upset with the house South Vietnam fell so quickly. My mother who was the social worker working for United Way agency befriended a few Vietnamese who came to our house because she was assigned to Camp Pendleton in Southern California Marine base for a few weeks when all of them came to Southern California. I was a history not then and I saw him forgotten I do remember a lot I can't even remember as far back as October 73 War Israel and I didn't know that the United States had gone to a high like Defcon 3 over it. Your present of on me a bit more of a pragmatist but he sure didn't think things through with pulling troops out of Iraq if you left twenty thousand troops there we could have stopped Isis coming into the country we could have probably prevented the civil war in Syria from going full blown. That's why I'm upset I want to duck 5 ramp ceremonies in kirkuk Iraq and I felt those people lost their lives for nothing over a political campaign promise that wasn't well thought out. I've been deployed three times and I'm a little cynical now. Thank you for your comments I'm learning more from you too
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