For the first time ever, as controversial as it may seem, a president steps up to the plate

promising something that he ends up accomplishing. The lengths in which the president went to
reach the goals were very controversial and the duration it took to get those results were, like
every instance in the history of the Vietnamese War, overestimated and long. Nevertheless,
Nixon's Peace with Honor was the fundamental solution the United States needed on both war
fronts, at home and in Vietnam. The plan itself flawed in some areas primarily because those
who implemented it were troubled, prideful, and flawed themselves. Such characteristics resulted
in lasting negative effects that could have been avoided in the beginning for faster and better
results.
The peace with honor plan was exactly as its name states, peace in ending the war
therefore settling troubled atmospheres in the home front and in Vietnam, and honor in
separating from the conflict without defeat. As Herring states, “the American withdrawal from
Vietnam must be conducted in a way that even the slightest appearance of defeat is avoided”
(Herring, 280). Of course, with pride in sight and preserving the name and influence of the

m
United States, complete withdrawal was not an option and therefore the peace for honor plan was

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devised to make a fair negotiated settlement that would preserve the independence of South

co
Vietnam (Herring, 281). If that could not be attained, at least they (Kissinger and Nixon) felt

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assured that the offer was reasonable enough to give South Vietnam a chance to survive

o.
(Herring, 281).
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Nixon and Kissinger both knew that complete withdrawal would cripple the country more
that help it. Moving forward, the administration knew that it was time to negotiate, face to face,
with North Vietnam. Nixon and Kessinger were also both prepared to use maximum force that
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was not used in earlier administrations if terms were not accepted or agreed upon (Herring, 281).
aC s

Insisting they must have a breaking point; the administration went into further measures to
vi y re

accomplish what it dreamed. They knew they only had two options when finally pulling out of
the war and that was to prep South Vietnam to fend for itself or aim for a negotiated settlement
on all sides (Duiker, 222). Either way, it did both and prepped south Vietnam in every way
ed d

possible while also still meeting with the North for negotiations. Additionally, Nixon thought of
the 5 star strategy to help with the peace with honor plan which consisted of getting out of South
ar stu

Vietnam and turning the war over to them, training them for their own self-defense,
diplomatically isolating Hanoi for its sponsors, continued peace negotiations with the DRV, and
engaging in gradual withdrawal (Duiker, 222). So, in a sense, all possible routes of hindrance
is

were carefully thought of and the plan itself was very detailed but as we will soon see, these
Th

plans would be easily overstepped by simple actions.

The amount of effort both countries put into the war should have been though about and
examined in order to determine if peace was truly attainable. To much effort was put into the war
sh

on both sides and the amount of bloodshed was overwhelming to simply throw in the towel. It
does not help that a message about meeting for peace is conveyed but following with it is a
massive air attack to show that the U.S. means business (Herring, 282). Although the message
trying to be delivered was that the administration will not avoid violence like the Lyndon
administration, it only infuriated the enemy and contradicted the talk of peace (Herring, 282-

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 283). Although using force was a weapon that worked in the long run for Nixon, it proved that
Johnson and his administration failed to carry out their duty in Vietnam because they avoided
such drastic measures. As a double edge sword, there is also a blaring reason why LBJ avoided it
and that’s because its prolonged effects that accompanied it. Such affects for Nixon were that the
war was dragged on for another four years after talking about “peace”. Therefore, such careful
planning of the peace with honor plan was trampled, more lives were taken, political strife
erupted, and massive amounts of divisiveness and violence spurred out of control in the
Homefront.
As the negotiation meetings lead to stalemates because either side is to stubborn to
accepts the others offers, the U.S. decision to respond with force is the main factor that should
have been avoided. Nixon should have been instructed in his first term as president to focus on
fighting the war in a more strategic way which could be either gaining allies who were the
Norths sponsors for the war and exploiting this to further drought the support in fighting or
simply, playing the wait game that the enemy employed. Nixon, although very smart in thinking

m
the ins and outs of his peace with honor plan in hopes to end the war, is very foolish to make his

er as
plans go to waste by responding impatiently to stubbornness with violence. Fighting by brute

co
force only prolonged the war and caused so many repercussions that ended countless lives and

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his own careers, making him worse that his predecessor. Nixon was impatient and could not wait

o.
for results, so he hoped to make them happen by his decisions. Eventually, the wait game the
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enemy played proved to be beneficial as it divided the country further and tired out the president
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by his own actions.
If one side choses to be stubborn and wait, play their game but more strategically as
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previously noted. Acting in violence only shows who is more mature and neither side showed
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maturity during the negotiation process. Therefore, results originally planned came later then
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they should. Maturity was shown when planning every detail in the Peace with Honor plan but
was quickly trampled on by irrational thinking and pride. Nixon’s Peace with Honor was the
solution the United States needed on both war fronts (at home and in Vietnam) but the plan itself
ed d

was flawed in some areas due to the changes made to it by those who implemented it. As the plan
was carried into action and results were not aligned with predictions, irrational brute force
ar stu

thinking came to play due to impatience. Nixon was troubled, prideful, impatient, and violent but
carried out a result that was originally planned. The price payed for those results came at the
expense of his own career and self-image.
is

Work Cited:
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Duiker, W. (1995). Sacred War: Nationalism and Revolution in a Divided Vietnam (1st ed., pp.
219-250). Boston [etc]: McGraw Hill.
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Herring, G. (2014). America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975 (5th ed.,
pp. 277-331). New York: McGraw-Hill.

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