Public Opposition and the Failure of Negotiations

Public support for war continued to fall and further large demonstrations were held (Washington, April 1971: 200,000)
Human and financial cost was providing intolerable - between 1965 and 1973 the US spent $120 billion on the war ($700 billion in 2007 dollars) which resulted in a large federal budget deficit
Nixon and Kissinger continued to search for a negotiated settlement, but had no success:
- Their ability to bargain with the NV was declining as US troops withdrew - of the 70,000 left in April 1972, only 6,000 were combat troops
- From a peak of nearly 540,000 in June 1969 - number of US military personnel in Vietam…

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