Powerful and Brutal Weapons: Nixon, Kissinger, and the Easter Offensive

Stephen Randolph, PhD ’05, returns to a conflict that severely tested America’s civilian and military leaders. In 1972, the United States sought to withdraw from Vietnam with its credibility intact. As diplomatic negotiations were pursued in Paris, former President Richard Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger hoped that gains on the battlefield would strengthen their position at the negotiating table — working against the relentless deadline of a presidential election year.