POL 343—Fall 2015
President Nixon’s Infiltration of Cambodia
In 1970, President Richard Nixon invaded Cambodia, on behalf of Khmer Republic and South Vietnam. Although this action kept with the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, regarding constitutional authorization, the bombings lacked congressional awareness; thereby stripping Congress of the opportunity to rescind their prior granted authorization. The bombings of Cambodia failed to give Congress the opportunity to rescind their previous grants explicitly given in the Gulf of Tonkin revolution, by keeping them a secret. This action never received the essential further legislative authorization, so rightfully should have ended in the reduction of executive powers. The incursions in Cambodia did not occur in response to an immediate threat on the United States. In 1970, when Nixon gave the Cambodian Incursion Address, he continued to diminish previous US presence in Cambodia. Nixon advocated US participation in Cambodia is in efforts to rid the area of as much communist controlled land as possible. political unrest among denizens …show more content…
This speech includes Nixon’s justifications and grounds for invasion in Cambodia in 1970.Contains verbal evidence of Nixon’s refusal to affirm the extent of US intervention in Cambodia.
Resolution, Tonkin Gulf. "Public Law 88-408." In 88th Congress, vol. 7. 1964.
With the creation of this resolution, Congress gave authorization of executive action in southeast Asia. This resolution prompts presidents to take every action essential to protecting the United States against all armed attacks, preventing further exacerbation of violence. It provides context in which various given presidential powers and expectations exist. The congressional authorization of the invasion of Cambodia could be argued as having kept with the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution of 1964, when omitting congressional