Which policy announced by President Nixon aimed to shift heavy military responsibility to South Vietnam and reduce American combat roles?

• A. Detente
• B. Escalation
• C. Containment
• D. Vietnamization

Answer: (D)

The idea being tested is shifting the burden of fighting from U.S. forces to South Vietnamese troops, with the United States pulling back from front-line combat. The policy that did this is Vietnamization, announced by President Nixon in 1969. It aimed to build up and equip the South Vietnamese army (ARVN), provide American training and air support, and steadily withdraw U.S. combat troops while letting South Vietnam take the lead in ground operations.

Detente is about easing tensions with rivals like the Soviet Union and China, not specifically transferring combat duties in Vietnam. Escalation refers to increasing U.S. military involvement, which is the opposite of what Vietnamization did. Containment is the broader Cold War strategy to prevent the spread of communism, not a Vietnam-specific plan to hand over combat roles to another nation.