"Peace with Honor" was a phrase U.S. President Richard Nixon used in a speech on January 23, 1973 to describe the Paris Peace Accords to end the Vietnam War. The phrase is a variation on a campaign promise Nixon made in 1968: "I pledge to you that we shall have an honorable end to the war in Vietnam."[1] The Accords specified that a ceasefire would take place four days later. According to the plan, within sixty days of the ceasefire, the North Vietnamese would release all U.S. prisoners, and all U.S. troops would withdraw from South Vietnam. On March 29, 1973, the last U.S. soldier left Vietnam. On 30 April 1975, Saigon was taken by North Vietnamese troops.[2]
Closely connected with the phrase is the idea that Nixon claimed in 1968 to have a secret plan to end the war. Nixon never made such a claim during his campaign, but neither did he explain how he would achieve peace. Therefore the assumption that he had a secret plan became a widespread belief and is commonly misattributed as a direct quote.[3]