ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a description of the international and domestic environment surrounding Richard Nixon and his advisors’ attempts to arrive at a favorable settlement with the North Vietnamese. Nixon learned from the experiences of past administrations and like many presidents before him Nixon came into office intent on avoiding the mistakes of the previous administration. Nixon wanted to use young, foreign policy professionals who were recruited from outside the government, thereby freeing them from the taint of the in-the-beltway bureaucracy that Nixon so much despised. The structure that Nixon ultimately wanted had the added benefit of isolating the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency, which he believed contributed to past presidents’ policy failures. It was with these ideas in mind that Nixon charged Henry Kissinger with revamping the national security apparatus. Nixon and his advisors faced numerous constraints as Nixon’s first term in office began.
