Richard Nixon in OnTheIssues Fact Checking

On War & Peace: FactCheck: No, Vietnam War ended in 1975, not 1973

Nixon said on 1/30/74, "For the first time in 12 years...the US [is] at peace with every nation of the world," meaning the Vietnam War had ended. That statement was untrue.

Nixon declared the Vietnam War "ended" as of 3/29/73. But there was no legal meaning to that "end"--Nixon only marked that date because the last official US combat troops left Vietnam. In fact, there were thousands more troops still in Vietnam. To highlight:

From 3/1/75 onward, 49,000 Americans--plus 110,000 Vietnamese refugees--left Vietnam.
On 4/30/75, the last US Marines actually left Vietnam, in a helicopter evacuation from Saigon.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs uses 5/7/75 as the last date of the "Vietnam era."
On 5/15/75, the Vietnam War Memorial dates the deaths of the last US servicemen, in the Mayaguez Incident.
After 3/29/73 Nixon's declaration, 420 additional US servicemen died in Vietnam.

Nixon was 2 years premature in his 1973 declaration, & 1 year premature in his 1974 speech. Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck on Nixon's 1974 SOTU address Jan 30, 1974

The above quotations are from Presidential Primary Fact Checking by OnTheIssues.org. Click here for main summary page. Click here for a profile of Richard Nixon. Click here for Richard Nixon on all issues.
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Page last updated: Nov 03, 2024