Today in History—January 23: The Day the “Endless War” Didn’t End

On this day in 1973, U.S. Pres. Richard Nixon addressed the nation to announce what could be called a historic breakthrough: “We today have concluded an agreement to end the war and bring peace with honor in Vietnam and in Southeast Asia.”

Except it wasn’t so.

Nixon spoke with visible relief as he outlined what the ceasefire would mean. It included the release of all U.S. prisoners of war and a full accounting of those missing in action. Plus, all U.S. forces would withdraw within 60 days. And the people of South Vietnam would choose their own government, “without outside interference.”

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The agreement, known as the Paris Peace Accords, was the result of nearly five years of negotiations—including an infamous 10-week debate over the shape of the table that would be used in the process. (Ultimately, a round table won out, flanked by rectangular side tables.)

With a formal signing at that table four days after Nixon’s address, the longest war in American history at the time—and one of the deadliest—ended.

Except it wasn’t so.

The ceasefire ended direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, but it did not bring lasting peace. When the Nobel Committee awarded its 1973 Peace Prize to U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and North Vietnam Pres. Le Duc Tho, only Kissinger accepted. Tho declined, saying that real peace had not been achieved.

Tho was prescient, for by January 1974, fighting had resumed between North and South Vietnam. South Vietnam’s president, Nguyen Van Thieu, declared the peace deal effectively void. The fighting continued until April 30, 1975, when Saigon fell to North Vietnamese forces. Nixon—who had made the proclamation of peace—was not in the White House to witness its unraveling; he had resigned nine months earlier.

The idea that U.S. involvement had ended in 1973 was further laid bare by news coverage in the days before the seemingly inevitable fall of Saigon: U.S. forces carrying out the largest helicopter evacuation in history. Troops desperately ferried almost 7,000 refugees, including more than 1,300 Americans, out of the city to safety, and the images were broadcast around the world, destined to become some of the most enduring footage of what would be known as the “endless war.”

On April 30, 1975, South Vietnam surrendered unconditionally. The war was finally over; how much peace and how much honor there was would be for historians to decide.

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