Ending the Vietnam War

Henry Kissinger was the fifty-sixth Secretary of State. Born in Germany, Dr. Kissinger came to the United States in 1938 and was naturalized a US citizen in 1943. He served in the US Army in Europe in World War Two and attended Harvard University on a scholarship, where he later became a member of the faculty. Among the awards he has received are the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Medal of Liberty. He passed away in 2023 at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut.

• ContentsForeword1. America's Entry into the Morass (1950-1969)2. Evolution of a StrategyWhat the Nixon Administration Found • Groping for a Strategy: The North Vietnamese Offensive and the Bombing of Cambodia • Attempts at a Diplomatic Outcome • Peace Initiatives • The Beginning of Troop Withdrawals • A Secret Meeting • Another Reassessment • The Unpacifiable Doves • A Strategy Emerges3. Secret Negotiations and a Widening WarThe Secret Negotiations • Special Advisor Le Duc Tho and the First Round of Talks • Laos Interlude • The Overthrow of Sihanouk • Another Major Troop Withdrawal • The Attack on North Vietnamese Sanctuaries • The Cambodian Incursion • The Domestic Travail • The Balance Sheet4. Diplomacy and Strategy: From a Cease-fire Proposal to the Interdiction of the Ho Chi Minh TrailMadame Binh's Eight Points • The Setting of a Strategy • The Laos Operation • Lam Son 719: The Military Operation • Braving Domestic Opposition • The Negotiations Are Resumed • The South Vietnamese Presidential Election • Revealing the Secret Talks5. Hanoi Throws the Dice: The Vietnam Spring OffensiveDiplomatic Maneuvers • What Strategy?6. The ShowdownThe May 2 Secret Meeting • The Mining and Bombing of North Vietnam • The Summit in the Balance7. From Stalemate to BreakthroughTesting the Stalemate • A Visit to Saigon • Interlude: Meetings of September 15 and 27 • The Breakthrough: The October 8 Meeting8. The Troubled Road to PeaceInterlude in Paris • Consultation with Thieu • Rumblings • Showdown with Thieu • The Journey Home9. "Peace Is at Hand"Election Interlude • Haig Visits Saigon Again • The Meetings with Le Duc Tho Resume • The Breakdown of the Negotiations • The Christmas Bombing • Negotiations Resume • The January Round of Negotiations • Thieu Relents • Peace at Last • Postlude10. A Visit to Hanoi11. Enforcement and AidThe Thieu Visit • Watergate and Enforcement • The Search for Peace in Cambodia • The Aborted Chinese Mediation • The Negotiations Unravel12. Ford and VietnamThe Strangulation of South Vietnam • Hanoi Resumes the Offensive • The End of the Road13. The Collapse of CambodiaThe Myth of the Failure to Negotiate on Cambodia • The Final Collapse • Final Note14. The End of VietnamarThe Debate over Evacuation • The Search for a Political Solution • The Evacuation • The Last DayEpilogueAcknowledgmentsAppendixNotesIndex