"PEACE WITH HONOR" IN VIETNAM
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On January 23, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon announced Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho had agreed to "end the (Vietnam) war and bring peace with honor."
According to the settlement, known as the Paris Accords*, a cease-fire would begin at 7 p.m. (EST) on January 27, 1973. In addition, all American and foreign troops were to leave Vietnam in 60 days.
Although the Paris Accords were officially signed on the 27th, the agreement was concluded and initialed on the 23rd. According to the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, "toasts were exchanged and there was a feeling of camaraderie all around."
*The Paris Accords were secret negotiations between the United States and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North) from 1968 to 1973. The cease-fire established by the agreement collapsed in 1975 and soon the Republic of Vietnam (South) fell. Today Vietnam is a unified communist nation.
SOURCE
"A Peace That Couldn't Last--Negotiating the Paris Accords on Vietnam," Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, www.adst.org/
