Richard Nixon became President of the United States in 1969 during the heat of the Vietnam War. When he was elected he wanted to end the War very quickly. However he didn't get troops out of Vietnam for another five years. He did try and get the South Vietnamese to fight in the most dangerous battle areas. When that was executed he made sure that there wouldn't be any more drafts into the Army. This made the Army a volunteer Army again. Nixon was going to show the North Vietnamese that he wasn't playing around and would bomb urban cities and mining towns. This helped soften the North Vietnamese Army up and break their will. His main goal was to stop the War and Communism. He wanted to push Russian influence out of Vietnam for good. This was at a time in the Cold War where Russia and America threatened Nuclear War against one another. In the beginning of 1973 there was a cease-fire that basically stopped the war in Vietnam. All the troops were brought home. Nixon had some of the highest death rates in the War. A little of a third of of deaths were in Nixon's Presidency.