Tricky Dick would have at least defended US interests.
“Haiphong is the major port and third largest city in North Vietnam. The majority of North Vietnam’s imports arrive through the port of Haiphong, which is connected by railroad with Hanoi. During the Vietnam War, Haiphong was a major supply depot and was heavily bombed from 1965 until 1968, when bombing was curtailed by President Johnson. During the attacks, much of the population was evacuated and the industry dispersed.”
“In 1972, the Nixon administration kindled a major controversy when the president ordered the renewal of bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong (April 16) and the mining of Haiphong Harbor as well as other harbors and inland waterways in North Vietnam (May 9). In addition, U.S. naval forces increased raids against coastal installations and put into effect a naval blockade of the North Vietnamese coastline. In a televised speech to the nation on May 8, 1972, Nixon defended his escalation of the air and sea war as crucial to cut off the flow of supplies to North Vietnamese troops fighting in the South and to protect the lives of American forces still in Vietnam. Also, Nixon contended that the raids and the minings were calculated to pressure the North Vietnamese government into resuming critical negotiations to achieve peace in Vietnam.”
Johnson suspended bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong ports in 1968. The regrettable thing about Nixon is that it took him 4 years to figure out that the little slopes were not going to bargain in good faith until they had something to lose. I heard about that time that what really did the trick were mines that were nearly undetectable and almost impossible to disarm. That is what got Lee Duc Toad off of his ass in Paris and back to the table. (Misspelling of Northviet gook negotiators name is intentional. :))