Invasion of Cambodia (April 30, 1970)
On April 30th, 1970, President Nixon declared on National television, with the approval of Henry Kissinger, that the US, with aid of South Vietnam was going to invade Cambodia. Nixon said that to cut off supplies to North Vietnam it was essential to invade and control Cambodia’s transportation lines. When Nixon told the public that he planned to invade Cambodia he had already been bombing parts of Cambodia for three months without acknowledging it to American citizens. News and Newspapers had many different opinions of the broadcast, including one that stated, "At one point during his television address to the nation last week, Richard Nixon lost his place in the typescript. For four or five seconds he shuffled pages, eyes darting through paragraphs to pick up the trail again. For the nation watching, it was an instant of complex psychology. There was the acute embarrassment and sympathy for the speaker who has fluffed his lines. There was also, for some, an eccentric half hope that if he could not continue, an absurdest, McLuhan logic would apply: 'The U.S. was about to move into Cambodia, but the President lost his place in the script.' The instant passed. Richard Nixon went on." In addition to the press not approving of his actions, people began to riot and Nixon lost a lot of public support.