Cambodia and Kent State: In the Aftermath of Nixon's Expansion of the Vietnam War

President Nixon’s announcement on April 30, 1970, that US troops were invading neutral Cambodia as part of the ongoing Vietnam War campaign sparked a complicated series of events with tragic consequences on many fronts.

In Cambodia, the invasion renewed calls for a government independent of western power and influence, eventually resulting in a civil war and the rise of the Khmer Rouge. Here at home, Nixon’s expansion of the war galvanized the longstanding anti–Vietnam War movement, includin...