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Although the United States had been sending advisers to anti-Communist South Vietnam since France left its former colony in the 1950s, the involvement quickly escalated in the mid-1960s. The U.S. utilized drafted soldiers, causing tremendous resentment on the home front. Furthermore, the South Vietnamese regime was unstable, facing several coups and general unpopularity. By 1968 there were already over 600,000 combat troops in the country, representing the peak of American intervention.

[[File:Carter_Brezhnev_sign_SALT_II.jpg|300px|thumb|left|The SALT II Treaty signed in 1979.]]

China's Great Leap Forward, intended to modernize and industrialize the country, was a tragic human and financial disaster. Dictator Mao Zedong was forced to seek alternatives to Soviet hegemony. The United States saw a prolonged period of instability initiated by the assassination of President John Kennedy in November 1963. Protests against involvement in Vietnam and a series of social issues continued to grow. By 1968 President Lyndon Johnson was broken in spirit and decided not to run for re-election. <ref>Gaddis, John Lewis, ''The Cold War: a New History.''' New York: Penguin Books, 2006. Pages 79-80.</ref>

It was in this atmosphere that former Vice President Richard Nixon reemerged. Having served under President Eisenhower from 1953-1961 Nixon ran unsuccessfully for the White House against Kennedy in 1960. Nixon also launched a failed bid for California governor in 1964 and declared that his political life was over. Nixon had developed a contentious but respectful role with Soviet leaders, even flying to Moscow for a debate with Khrushchev on the strengths of a capitalist system, dubbed the "Kitchen Debate" in 1959. Nixon's return in 1968 was built on the twin ideas that he would be tough on Communism and crack down on instability through his 'law and order' platform.

[[File:SovietInvasionAfghanistanMap.png|300px|thumb|left|The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was a major factor in ending Detente.]]

Nixon's ascension brought competing for ideas to light. In one regard, he was a Cold Warrior, launching a large escalation of bombing in Vietnam (and later Cambodia and Laos) while also dramatically reducing the number of combat troops in Southeast Asia. Nixon also ended the draft, undercutting a major argument of American doves. As both Brezhnev and Nixon were looked upon as hardliners, it appeared that a thaw might not be possible. The year before Nixon took office, Brezhnev launched bloody repression of an uprising in Czechoslovakia.