Good points, Zim. Sorry for the incorrect attribution of Nam withdrawal - Think you are correct on that one.
BUT I do blame Kissinger (Nixon) appointee for a very poor negotiation with the North Viets. We were within a week of having the North completely surrender, and it was HIS pressure on Nixon that ended the bombing on Hanoi which was extremely effective.
And it was definitely Nixon that hung Taiwan out to dry.
As you correctly point out, there was no 'peace dividend'.
however the budget buster spending bills WERE signed by Nixon, and going off the gold standard was the MAIN reason for the ensuing disastrous inflation and interest rates. Won't argue that we HAD to get off the gold standard - I think we did have to.
If one looks at the national debt in eight year increments over the past 60-70 years, you will quickly see that it doubles every eight years (plus or minus a little bit) no matter WHO is in charge. That even held true after the famous 'Contract with America' that was passed by Republicans back in the Clinton years. When it comes to politicians, they are all worse than drunken sailors with credit cards.
| 
