Digital Commons Network^™

Planning, Politics And Public Opinion In The 1975 Refugee Resettlement Program, Edwin Donald Miller

Legacy ETDs

Few events in recent American History have elicited as much emotionalism and controversy as the fall of South Vietnam. Although American troops had not fought in the country since 1973, Americans in the spring of 1975 were acutely sensitive to the rapidly declining military situation and the plight of thousands of Vietnamese refugees. In March and April, efforts by President Gerald R. Ford to secure emergency military aid for the Saigon government created a furor among politicians and the public. Polls showed that a majority of Americans felt further military aid to Saigon would only prolong the suffering of millions …