President Richard Nixon During a Vietnam War Press Conference
4/30/1970
Add to Favorites:
Add all page(s) of this document to activity:
During the Vietnam War, in a coup strongly encouraged by the United States, a U.S.-friendly government came to power in Cambodia. The Vietnamese Communists had long used neutral Cambodia as a place to regroup and store weapons. The 12,000 miles of roads and paths built by Communists to connect North and South Vietnam through Cambodia and Laos was known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. It was a critical supply route that the Communists credited with much of their success in the war.
President Nixon planned to send ground groups to Cambodia to attack Communist sanctuaries and central headquarters. One historical interpretation of Nixon’s strategy is that he hoped to destabilize the enemy in order to provide a “decent interval” in which South Vietnam could fend for itself while American troops pulled out.
Nixon televised his decision to initiate the Cambodian campaign. In this photograph he points out the locations of suspected Communist sanctuaries in Cambodia. The public was unaware that Nixon had been secretly bombing Cambodia since mid-March 1969—an escalation of a covert bombing campaign started by President Johnson in 1965.
The original caption for this photograph reads: President Richard Nixon Points to a Map of Cambodia during a Vietnam War Press Conference.
President Nixon planned to send ground groups to Cambodia to attack Communist sanctuaries and central headquarters. One historical interpretation of Nixon’s strategy is that he hoped to destabilize the enemy in order to provide a “decent interval” in which South Vietnam could fend for itself while American troops pulled out.
Nixon televised his decision to initiate the Cambodian campaign. In this photograph he points out the locations of suspected Communist sanctuaries in Cambodia. The public was unaware that Nixon had been secretly bombing Cambodia since mid-March 1969—an escalation of a covert bombing campaign started by President Johnson in 1965.
The original caption for this photograph reads: President Richard Nixon Points to a Map of Cambodia during a Vietnam War Press Conference.
This primary source comes from the Collection RN-WHPO: White House Photo Office Collection (Nixon Administration).
National Archives Identifier: 194674
Full Citation: Photograph NLRN-WHPO-3448-21A; President Richard Nixon Points to a Map of Cambodia during a Vietnam War Press Conference; 4/30/1970; Nixon White House Photographs, 1/20/1969 - 8/9/1974; Collection RN-WHPO: White House Photo Office Collection (Nixon Administration); Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/nixon-press-conference-vietnam, May 22, 2025]Activities that use this document
- The Vietnam War Timeline: Understanding the nature of a controversial conflict
Created by the National Archives Education Team
Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
