TLS as president signed “RN,” one page, 6.75 x 8.75, White House letterhead, November 6, 1969. Letter to Ohio Congressman Wayne Hays, in full: "The strong support which you and so many of your colleagues in the House offered following my Monday evening message to the Nation should serve as ample evidence to the leaders of North Vietnam that the time has come to move forward at the conference table to end this tragic war. Your expression of confidence that our course will lead to peace is a source of deep encouragement.” In fine condition.
Nixon knew that ending the Vietnam War honorably was essential to his success in the presidency, which he had assumed earlier that year. He expected that the American people would give him a year to end U.S. involvement in the war, and he expected to succeed during that time—believing that his experience in foreign relations, his toughness, and his willingness to bring to bear military and political pressure on North Vietnam would yield a settlement in the public negotiations just opening in Paris.
It quickly became apparent that the public peace talks in Paris were being used as propaganda theater by both sides and that any productive negotiations would have to be done in private, which, in time, also proved ineffectual. On November 3, 1969, Nixon made his famous ‘silent majority’ speech, rallying the American people toward patient support for a protracted war. The administration would continue its dual strategy of Vietnamization and negotiation.
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