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Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember. Today, we continue the story of the thirty-seventh president of the United States, Richard Nixon. The year is nineteen sixty-nine. Richard Nixon, a Republican, is in the first year of his first term in office. His biggest foreign policy problem is the continuing war in Vietnam. During the election campaign, Nixon had promised to do something to end the war. The question was: what? Some Americans want him to withdraw troops from Vietnam immediately. Bring the soldiers home, they say. Others believe the United States should take whatever measures are necessary to win. Expand the ground war, they say, or even use nuclear weapons. Withdrawing troops would leave South Vietnam alone to resist communist North Vietnam. Yet that was the reason the United States had entered the conflict -- to prevent the communists from capturing the south.
Expanding the war would not be an easy decision either. Already, by nineteen sixty-nine, more Americans had died in Vietnam than had died during the Korean War. For Richard Nixon, the war is a terrible test. If he fails, his presidency could end the way Lyndon Johnson's presidency ended. Johnson decided not to run for re-election after he lost public and political support for his war policies. Presidents have advisers, and Nixon's most important adviser was Henry Kissinger. Kissinger was an expert on foreign relations. He later served as Nixon's secretary of state. Together, they tried many ways to settle the conflict in Vietnam. It took several years before the involvement of the United States would finally end. The American efforts were both diplomatic and military. Peace talks were taking place in Paris. But the Nixon administration started secret peace talks in Paris at the same time. The administration also withdrew some troops from Vietnam. Yet -- secretly -- it sent other troops into Cambodia. And it began bombing Laos. The Nixon administration also started bombing North Vietnam again. Lyndon Johnson had stopped the raids a few years earlier.
Efforts to end American involvement in Vietnam did not begin immediately. For his first eight months in office, President Nixon made no major policy changes. Then, in October nineteen sixty-nine, he ordered the withdrawal of sixty thousand troops. He said he acted to speed the peace talks. He also ordered American commanders to give the South Vietnamese most of the responsibility for fighting. Americans were happy that fewer troops would be involved. But many were unhappy that the withdrawal was not complete. Huge anti-war demonstrations took place in the United States in the autumn of nineteen sixty-nine. On November fifteenth, several hundred thousand people protested in Washington. Nixon tried to explain to the American people why he was not ordering an immediate withdrawal. In his words: "It is not the easy way. It is the right way." In the spring of nineteen seventy, American and South Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia. "Tonight, American and South Vietnamese units will attack the headquarters for the entire communist military operation in South Vietnam." Nixon described to the American public why he had decided to order the actions in Cambodia.
"This key control center has been occupied by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong for five years, in blatant violation of Cambodia's neutrality. This is not an invasion of Cambodia. The areas in which these attacks will be launched are completely occupied and controlled by North Vietnamese forces. Once enemy forces are driven out of these sanctuaries, and once their military supplies are destroyed, we will withdraw." Early in nineteen seventy-one, the Nixon administration decided to provide air and artillery support for a South Vietnamese invasion of Laos. The goal was to stop supplies from reaching North Vietnam through that neighboring country. South Vietnamese forces destroyed many enemy weapons. But they also suffered heavy losses, and many American planes were shot down. After six weeks, the South Vietnamese were forced to withdraw. Many members of the United States Congress were angry. They said the invasion of Laos was another in a long series of failures. Nixon's administration had said the United States was winning the war. Opposition Democrats in Congress said the administration was lying. Criticism by the American public grew louder, as well.

Demonstrations took place across the country, including on college campuses. On May fourth, nineteen seventy, National Guard troops shot and killed four students during protests at Kent State University in Ohio. This is what Neil Young means when he sings of "four dead in Ohio" in a famous protest song that he wrote in reaction to the killings. President Nixon said again that the United States must not permit North Vietnam to take over South Vietnam. Lyndon Johnson had said the same thing when he was president. Many Americans had accepted the war, but as it continued, and as more Americans died in Vietnam, public opinion changed. In nineteen sixty-five, sixty-one percent of those questioned said they approved of the war. By nineteen seventy-one, sixty-one percent said they did not approve of it. The official peace talks in Paris offered little hope of a negotiated settlement. Over a period of several years, each side made proposals, only to have the other side reject them.
President Nixon wanted to address the public's anger over the war. So he announced that Henry Kissinger had held twelve secret meetings with North Vietnamese officials. But those secret meetings made no more progress than the official talks. In late March nineteen seventy-two, North Vietnam launched a major offensive. In May, Nixon ordered increased bombing against roads and railways in the north. By the end of August, the communist offensive had been stopped. Yet many lives had been lost. The pressure to withdraw American forces grew stronger. For the next five months, the Nixon administration continued a policy of official talks, secret meetings and increased military action. Finally, the president announced that an agreement had been reached at the peace talks in Paris. There would be a ceasefire, and negotiators from the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam and the Viet Cong would sign the agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, all American and allied forces would withdraw from South Vietnam. The north and south would be free to settle their conflict without interference from other countries.
President Nixon announced the news from the White House. "At twelve-thirty Paris time today, January twenty-three, nineteen-seventy-three, the agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam was initialed by Dr. Henry Kissinger on behalf of the United States and special adviser Le Duc Tho on behalf of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The agreement will be formally signed by the parties participating in the Paris conference on Vietnam on January twenty seven, nineteen-seventy-three, at the international conference center in Paris. The United States and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam express the hope that this agreement will insure stable peace in Vietnam and contribute to the preservation of lasting peace in Indochina and Southeast Asia." Yet the fighting continued -- and would continue even after Nixon resigned from office in nineteen seventy-four. April thirtieth, nineteen seventy-five, marked the fall of Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital, after the withdrawal of American troops. The North Vietnamese had planned a two-year campaign to take Saigon; it would take them just fifty-five days. In fact, Nixon might have been remembered as one of America's greatest presidents, if not for a break-in at Democratic Party headquarters. It led to a history-changing series of events that came to be known as Watergate. That will be our story next week.

重点解析

1.promise to 许诺做；承诺

She broke her promise to me.

她没有承担对我的许诺l7BfwSokbu;YqF&]Gvl。

2.run for 竞选；竞选职位

It was only last February that he announced he would run for president.

去年2月，他才宣布自己将参加总统竞选[KF5X;P!+^Re_9to~S。

3.approve of 赞同；同意

I didn't approve of his manner.

我不喜欢他的态度_4HRu3DlI)Gt~8)%。

4.on behalf of 代表；以……名义

He spoke on behalf of all the members of the faculty and staff.

他代表全体教职员工讲了话&AMZlk-esoD0|33.KTt。

参考译文

欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目，我是史蒂夫·恩伯dOb3bF@juN5h4R;p。今天，我们继续讲述美国第37任总统理查德·尼克松的故事]Dkg;uc1xcK7Gdjbpmn。这一年是1969年，共和党人理查德·尼克松出任第一个总统任期的第一年5GfSLxViu2amFvDCZP。他最大的外交政策问题是持续进行的越南战争c@4jpgCBFZYq#lG。在竞选期间，尼克松曾承诺要采取措施来结束战争&+e6offLVK5dqUQ。问题是：采取什么措施？一些美国人希望他立即从从越南撤军DUW@[fjw-,XYkjg。士兵们说，带他们回家dubCJr4k]8。其他人则认为，美国应该采取一切必要的措施来取得胜利i!6VkZx4QMn4Hm。他们说，扩大地面战争，甚至使用核武器lG1BMe^YQv7TQ;!6gJ。撤军将使南越单独抵抗共产党的北越]%[p*G]bJyx。然而，这正是美国加入这场冲突的原因——为了阻止共产党占领南方U+rbGF;lbsr^,。
扩大战争也不是一个容易的决定M5Fbew=5V#LN-。到1969年，死于越南战争的美国人已经超过了朝鲜战争期间的阵亡人数3rCWl#(@o^4。对理查德·尼克松来说，这场战争是一场可怕的考验dulcU(gf1vM=Ao。如果他失败了，他的总统任期可能会像林登·约翰逊的总统任期那样结束3_Td-2QRnzG6Yr9eFD。约翰逊在其战争政策失去公众和政治支持后，决定不再竞选连任Sdp)tpk=lVj1Yb。总统都有顾问，尼克松最重要的顾问是亨利·基辛格]7VIY,;k5WLc]8QrZ。基辛格是一位外交关系专家，他后来担任尼克松的国务卿ROd|)9hLsipD_hKNZo。他们一起尝试了许多方法来解决越南的冲突XIQza#qhAS;kpLxl。几年后，美国的介入才最终结束GD4(VssNK_hpg#3。美国在外交和军事方面都在努力，和谈正在巴黎举行AB)j@8UA5-ZQs28(Eb。但是，尼克松政府同时也在巴黎开始秘密和谈gD6#4;2te%v+l*@EQ。政府还从越南撤军，但它秘密地向柬埔寨派遣其他军队，并开始轰炸老挝e7-0^KB*Sps#3In8sq6。尼克松政府也开始再次轰炸北越，林登·约翰逊几年前就停止了突袭行动Uje7cz-=-K^0Q。
结束美国介入越南的努力并没有立即开始，尼克松总统在上任的前八个月里，没有对政策做出重大改变iCqUp,1S@3h6aJwf+7。后来，在1969年10月，他下令撤军6万人8dLH8HBRsLn9%~。他说，他采取行动是为了加快和谈，还命令美国指挥官让南越承担大部分的战斗责任E7xEYfH=lSFS(y。美国人对于能减少军队的参与表示很满意，但许多人对没有完全撤军并不满意nG])5,wGQZ8+(]Unw~。1969年秋天，美国发生了大规模的反战示威]E[zAc8=%=tJj[B9-。11月15日，几十万人在华盛顿进行抗议FA7lH10zUw&A8X。尼克松试图向美国民众解释他为什么没有命令立即撤军，用他的话说：“这不是一个简单的方法，这是正确的方法,dvakq-gUDAK-IFu5=Bp。”在1970年春天，美国和南越军队入侵柬埔寨Bz+b^ZL+DG]Q]2]。 “今晚，美国和南越部队将攻击南越整个共产主义军事行动总部|8_AHDu7,Zb+。”尼克松向美国公众描述了他决定下令在柬埔寨采取行动的原因BxR[q#W7uPJ]。
“这个关键的控制中心已经被北越和越共占领五年，这公然违反了柬埔寨的中立立场g#I82Ef--Xxp#v6。这不是对柬埔寨的入侵，将发动袭击的地区完全被北越军队占领和控制pmwX-n5X1a9PU.c[#V,^。一旦敌军被赶出这些庇护所，他们的军需被摧毁后，我们就撤退dZb[dBUJGP(#。”早在1971年，尼克松政府决定为南越入侵老挝提供空中和炮兵支援MXpQAp~I=B。其目的是阻止物资通过邻国到达北越9ss%qd1E+cv7N6P。南越军队摧毁了许多敌人的武器，但他们也遭受了重大损失，许多美国飞机被击落VE+Y7Q5W8uC。六周后，南越人被迫撤退q-eymGjMUj8NwCT.。许多美国国会议员对此感到愤怒，他们说入侵老挝是一系列失败中的又一次失败o0j@4;(T3L~w5wW。尼克松政府曾表示，美国正在赢得这场战争Lbk8u*@O-v1w51-t0ecc。国会反对党民主党人说政府在撒谎2&eMNKQ.mOK。美国公众的批评声也越来越大)S@WAwQ&x4[x;k。
全国各地都在进行示威游行，包括各个大学校园bwTnxGB103Q9plT。1970年5月4日，在俄亥俄州肯特州立大学的抗议活动中，国民警卫队士兵开枪射死四名学生asF*@_DOqHFXE~kQc。这就是尼尔·杨在杀戮事件发生后，谱写的著名抗议歌曲中唱到“俄亥俄州四人死亡”时的意思-KBvLKyhTXDsANU|BD)-。尼克松总统再次表示，美国决不能允许北越接管南越fBO+|ueNH9H。林登·约翰逊出任总统时，也说过同样的话J+Tar[#5ucF。许多美国人接受了这场战争，但随着战争的继续，以及越来越多的美国人死于越南战争，公众舆论发生了变化*CzqrtzH^4A@yOv=X_4n。在1965年，61%的被调查者说他们赞成这场战争WxdNgi;sX=ffuGHY=5K。到1971年，61%的人说他们表示不赞成Fsx0Xs*QwaC9HPWY*T8L。在巴黎举行的正式和谈，几乎没有希望通过谈判解决问题n~.#oXZsnZ(Qc,uF。在几年的时间里，每一方都提出过建议，结果对方都否决了1]=D1D9Wi=wpG2Nn1wM。
尼克松总统想解决公众对战争的愤怒c-3]#T5!4KM5CIHC3P。因此，他宣布，亨利·基辛格与北越官员举行12次秘密会晤kLMK9NdwOK,t。但是，这些秘密会议并没有取得比官方会谈更多的进展+wOW6TD9j7dVOUeQq。1972年3月下旬，北越发动了一次重大进攻]]|B1JOxefvH_p。同年5月，尼克松下令加大对北部公路和铁路的轰炸力度G2,gF8ALkbg-q*lUYcQf。到8月底，共产党的进攻已经停止g%Ku.|]]l^y。然而，许多人丧生#O@]5tbgK7Gxs。撤军的压力越来越大bE*qS5bjyafq。在接下来的五个月里，尼克松政府继续推行官方会谈、秘密会议和增加军事行动的政策AbzX-5F&9(。最后，总统宣布在巴黎和谈中达成一项协议pz6^&x4;_[oK-z#tJ,TL。双方将停火，来自美国、南越、北越和越共的谈判代表将签署协议%2cZ6RLeGJD=Op。根据协议条款，所有美国和盟军将从南越撤军3sZ-j4EeDoH4ngOW2P。南北双方可以自由解决冲突，而不受其他国家的干涉~VGs)3_s;HSZJ1FDjI,。
尼克松总统在白宫宣布了这一消息3m=6JbTmdpa+1Q。“1973年1月23日，今天巴黎时间12点30分，代表美国的亨利·基辛格博士和代表越南民主共和国的特别顾问黎德寿签署了《关于结束越南战争，恢复和平的协定》)TeiRV[wl]]Y。该协议将由参加越南问题巴黎会议的各方，于1973年1月27日在巴黎国际会议中心正式签署AWIC.DHIPh%。美国和越南民主共和国表示，希望这项协议将确保越南的稳定和平，并有助于维护印度支那和东南亚的持久和平G=WHM,wldP_)Gpaxh)。” 然而，战斗仍在继续，甚至在尼克松于1974年辞职后仍将继续SL7aLJS0e[-;w[T。1975年4月30日，美国军队撤离后，南越首都西贡陷落CRqY%|QUC|%)dTx^lE|&。北越人计划用两年时间攻占西贡，而他们只用了55天P|iF]f_!)&。事实上，尼克松如果不是因为民主党总部有一次遭遇非法闯入，人们也许会记住他是美国最伟大的总统之一Hd,s0O3MK&BY。这次非法闯入导致了一系列改变历史的事件，后来被称为水门事件)K!tHNxdJPTB^Li。这将是我们下期要讲述的故事yCiLAKV6MnQzZu=O=。

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