end of the vietnam war
In 1969, President Richard Nixon declared that the Vietnam war would come to a close. His plan to withdraw U.S. troops was a process called "Vietnamization", in which the U.S. would try to help Southern Vietnam assume more responsibility in the war by bolstering their army, weaponry, and supplies. Unfortunately, Nixon's declaration proved premature; he ordered an expansion of the war into Cambodia, containing nests of communism, in 1970. Nixon worked to withdraw American soldiers from the war equation and return them home, but this process stretched over several years of continued fighting. After Nixon attempted to negotiate multiple times and ended up bombing North Vietnam in 1972, the Paris Accords were signed in January 1973, under which the U.S. troops were entirely withdrawn. While U.S. involvement began to cease here, the war did not entirely come to a close until April 30th, 1975, when Saigon, South Vietnam fell to communist control.