Silent Majority Essay

Nixon used this fact to his advantage and portrays himself as one of them, a family man and a veteran. Nixon uses pathos, an appeal to emotion to relate to the American values emotionally by blending right in with them. He downplayed the fact that he served in the military and simply pretends he was in the right place at the right time. For example, he stated “I guess I’m entitled to a couple of battle stars. I got a couple of letters of commendation. But I was just there when the bombs were falling. And then I returned and ran for congress.” By using the phrase “I guess,” he pretended his part during the war was not relevant. He also presented his wife on screen and continued to mention that Patricia Nixon herself was never on payroll. This is significant because it established trust and emotion between him and the audience. In addition, he used the rhetorical device, repetition, to build up even more emotion. It emphasized his confidence and ideas while also guilting the audience into questioning why they ever doubted him. By repeating “Do you think..” he creates a sense of disappointment amongst the American People, and they are forced to rethink themselves for ever doubting such an honest man. Using guilt, although effective, is not successfully persuading the audience into believing his

The Vietnam War, lasting for approximately 20 years, was the longest and one of the most controversial wars in American history. Not only did the war take a heavy toll on the American troops fighting abroad, but it also led to riots and tension amongst Americans on the homefront. Two presidents devoted to winning the war against the spread of Communism in Vietnam as quickly and effectively as possible were Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. Although Johnson was a Democrat and Nixon was a Republican, their foreign policies in Vietnam were similar because they both kept secrets about the war from Congress and because both of their foreign policies were disliked by the American public. However, they differed because Johnson escalated the United

January 1969, Richard Nixon entered the executive office picking up the pieces Lyndon Johnson who had left while the Vietnam War was still in effect. Many Americans had the expectation that Nixon would be the “peaceful president”, visualizing he would put an end to this war in Southeast Asian and bring back home our troops. A policy Nixon redefined was the American role in the world by suggesting to limit the U.S resources and commitments. Therefore, Nixon’s set his efforts to end the war since the withdrawal from Vietnam was not an immediate option. Also, Nixon had his radar on Moscow and China because according to George C. Herring, they felt that they must release the United States from the war in a way that would uphold United States credibility with their friends and foes alike. During Nixon’s term in office, he tries a number of different strategies in his effort to end the war, but to this day, one can see that Nixon only prolonged the war when it could have ended earlier.

Nixon’s first term of presidency was full of accomplishments. Once in office, Nixon and his staff faced the problem of how to end the Vietnam War. Nixon made a nationally televised address on November 3, 1969, calling on Americans to renew their confidence in the government and back his policy of seeking a negotiated peace in Vietnam. Earlier that year, Nixon and his Defense Secretary Melvin Laird had unveiled the policy of “Vietnamization,” which entailed reducing American troop levels in Vietnam and transferring the burden of

To start with responding to the widespread protests, Nixon outlined his new Vietnam War policy in this speech; Called “Vietnamization”, Nixon’s war policy called for contraction in American troops but continued fighting. Nixon contrasted his international strategy of political realism with the idealism of a vocal minority. He ended his speech with the famous words that his speech became known by: “So tonight, to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans, I ask for your support;”

The Nixon administration was forced to de-escalate the war in Vietnam. The antiwar movement fueled US troop withdraws from Vietnam. Through his ‘Vietnamization' program, President Nixon entailed withdrawing American troops and strengthening the South Vietnam's army. Nixon hoped to calm domestic opposition to the conflict and thereby buy time for his effort to a force favorable outcome to the war. The antiwar movement accomplished congressional legislation that cut off U.S. funds for the war. Wells,

It was Nixon’s hope that by attacking the reporting of the war it would make him appear more credible, especially when the Gallup Poll indicated that “almost two-thirds of Americans doubted that he was being candid with them about the Vietnam War” (Pach 560). Unfortunately for the Administration this did little to change public opinion about the war (Pach

During this time in American history, America was in the midst of the Vietnam War, a war that nobody liked or really understood. This presidential scandal damaged the image of President Nixon and subsequently tarnished America’s outlook on the presidency as well. This event further stimulated an era of public distrust towards the American

“Vietnam divided America more deeply and painfully than any event since the Civil War.” (Readings 9, To Avoid a Defeat, 231). The steady stream of American casualties suffered at the hands of the NVA made a difficult situation intolerable as American support for the war diminished with each soldier laid to rest. President Lyndon B. Johnson made a dire mistake in approving General Westmoreland’s request on to put combat troops on the ground in Vietnam, as the threat to American security had not been triggered to the point where it was worth the lives of American soldiers. The American military was severely underprepared for war, and the eventual withdrawal of troops would become a global embarrassment that continues to haunt the United States decades later. Further, President Johnson sought to put an end to the conflict in Vietnam for questionable reasons, driven more by political expediency than thoughtful consideration for the lives entrusted to him as Commander in Chief.

Throughout Nixon’s campaign, his promise to the American people focused on law and order as he often spoke to the forgotten and silent (Richard Nixon 2014). Furthermore, he catered to this group in his domestic policy by attacking liberal programs and successfully passed significant and progressive social legislation such as welfare reform, strict environmental laws and consumer protection legislation (Richard Nixon 2014). The focus of Nixon’s agenda was to attack liberal ideology by confronting liberalism within the Supreme Court and concentrating on nominating conservative justices (Richard Nixon 2014). Where President Johnson’s desire was to win the approval of the American people by bringing them together, Nixon pursued to accomplish conservative control through division. However, both Johnson and Nixon encountered the developing social unrest which was deepened by the Vietnam War due to their presidential boldness (Pfiffner 2011, 13). President Johnson deceived the American people which worked to intensify the war as he did not want to endanger his Great Society Program (Pfiffner 2011, 13). President Nixon’s continuous pursuit of the war and opposition to the congressional efforts at ending the war led to his challenging

However, Nixon added on to the losses in the war and the continuing of it for four more years. Even though Nixon had an agreement with Johnson not to do anything that would result in the undercut of the United States position, he went ahead and did it anyway. Nixon did not want Johnson to receive all the glory for stopping the ongoing war in Vietnam when his term was at its final days. Nixon received information from Richard Allen on the progress of the peace talks and made sure to convince Diem that they were not in his best interest. Nixon convinced Diem he’d come up with a better negotiation, Diem would only have to wait a couple weeks until Nixon was elected president. By the end of Johnson’s presidency he failed to end the war because

Under President Nixon, a new policy was formed known as Vietnamization. This policy slowly begun the removal of American troops in Vietnam, and increased the rate of bombardment by artillery and planes, all the while giving the South Vietnamese control over ground forces. Although it was a step in the right direction, protesters were still not satisfied. Through continuous peaceful protesting, in various locations, President Nixon gave the people what they wanted. In 1972, draft calls were a thing of the past, and an all-volunteer army was all that was left. After numerous sacrifices and extreme dedication, in January of 1973, the U.S.and North Korea negotiated and issued a final peace agreement. Protestors had ultimately shaped major decisions on the war and through consistency and tenacity made their goal of resisting a federal decision a reality. In conclusion, the Vietnam War protests display that through the power of the people and democracy, the government can not limit what Americans want for their

After countless protests, anti-war movements, and “battles” on the home front, President Richard M. Nixon made the decision to withdrawal American troops from Vietnam. As a Marine, being stronger, faster, and smarter than your enemy is only half the battle. What keeps troops going is the support they receive from those who are back home waiting for them. Unfortunately for our soldiers in Vietnam, they lacked the support from America that was essential to us staying victorious in

Nixon was one of the few presidents who have had a second term. Therefore, Nixon had more than one inaugural speech. Nixon’s second speech was very similar to the first speech. Instead, of focusing on how to be at peace, Nixon assured, the country, that everything was serene and we needed to maintain it. “A person can be expected to act responsibly only if he has responsibility”, a quote from Nixon’s second speech. Almost, an ironic statement when Nixon, initially, avoid responsibility for his crimes. With that being said, Nixon informed Americans that they should be more responsible for themselves and depend less on the government. More personal responsibility would better America, in Nixon’s eyes. Similarly, to the first speech, Nixon does not state any plans, but this speech was less inspiring. Unlike, the first speech, this second speech seemed to be a call to action for the American people.

President Nixon’s address began by describing the situation he inherited when taking office. Nixon described the situation as such: “The war had been going on for four years. One thousand Americans had been killed in action. The training program for