President Nixon and Vietnamization

Following his election into United States office in 1969, President Richard Nixon announced a new policy: American troops were to be progressively withdrawn from South Vietnam and military operations were to be conducted in the future by strengthened South Vietnamese forces--the war was to be "Vietnamized." American withdrawals began in July of that year. By 1970, troops were being withdrawn at the rate of 12,500 a month.

See also: The Conflict - The Rise of Insurgency - Escalation of the Conflict - Domestic Pressures - "Vietnamization" - The Final Stages