The Great Silent Majority: Section 3: I've Got the Solution, People Summary

North Vietnam Won't Play Fair

  • Nixon then wants to come across as the peacemaker.
  • He reminds everyone that he went on live TV and told everyone that he had a plan for peace.
  • He wanted to withdraw troops within a year.
  • He wanted a cease-fire.
  • He even met with the North Vietnamese in Paris to talk things over.
  • And, according to Nixon, every attempt that he has made toward peace has just been ripped up and thrown away by the other side.
  • Nixon wants to let America in on his not-so-secret plan.
  • First, he wants everyone to know that he was working on a plan for peace in Vietnam well before he got into office.
  • Second, even though he didn't like them and they didn't like him, he met with the leaders of the North Vietnamese armies.
  • He even got his buddies to meet with the Soviet Union to talk things over. And that never happens.
  • In other words, Nixon wants everyone to know that he's tried everything. But nobody wants to come to terms on a peaceful agreement.
  • To drive the point home, Nixon whips out a letter that he received from Ho Chi Minh.
  • The letter basically says that Minh wants peace, too. Just not on America's terms.
  • Nixon promises to release that letter to the press.
  • The point of bringing up all this stuff, according to Nixon, is to show that the other team is just not willing to end this game peacefully.
  • It's not his fault; they just won't play fair.

Nixon Is the Man With a Plan

  • Nixon wants to give off the impression that he's totally exhausted from all of his efforts toward peace.
  • Now is the time for action, he argues. And he's got a plan for success.
  • One of the parts of the plan is called the Nixon Doctrine. Named after yours truly.
  • Nixon's Nixon Doctrine is designed to get the Vietnamese to do more of the fighting.
  • He brings up the Korean War and the early years of the Vietnam War to show that the United States usually just shows support using money and ideas in these types of wars.
  • The point of U.S. foreign policy, according to Nixon, is to help the poor and oppressed people of the world fight their wars, not to fight their wars for them.
  • So, Nixon lays out a three-part plan.
  • First, keep all treaties.
  • Second, the United States will totally blow any nation sky high if they mess with the United States' security.
  • Third, we'll get our armies ready in case Vietnam needs more than just money and intelligence.
  • Nixon wants everyone to know that this is a good plan. So good that countries like Thailand and the Philippines are totally jazzed about it.
  • Nixon has even got a catchy word for his new policy: "Vietnamization." He wants to Vietnamize the Vietnam War.