Answer:
Explanation:
• Nixon was a hawk on the Vietnam War but ran on the slogans "peace with honor" and "law and order"
• Peace with honor meant he would end the war in a way that wouldn't be an embarrassment to the US.
• Law and order was trying to capitalize on discontent over anti-war protests, assassinations, and the civil rights movement.
• Right prior to the election, LBJ learned that Nixon had been secretly sabotaging the peace talks in Vietnam, so the Democrats wouldn't be able to run on a victory in Vietnam.
• LBJ chose not to make this public, believing that Humphrey was going to win anyway.
• Nixon defeated Humphrey by a very close popular vote.
• Nixon appealed to what he claimed was the "silent majority" (socially conservative Americans who disliked the "hippie" counterculture and civil rights/anti-war demonstrators)
• Nixon also appealed to those who thought he would end the war. Many believed he had a "secret plan" to end the Vietnam War.
• Nixon announced that he would gradually withdraw US troops from Vietnam and give the South Vietnamese the money, weapons, and training they needed to take over the full conduct of the war.
• He termed this Vietnamization.
• Under Nixon, US troops dropped from over half a million in 1969, to under 30,000 in 1972.
