With the republicans criticism about Speaker Pelosi's trip to Syria, they neglect Richard Nixon's interfering with the Johnson administration foreign policy in Vietnam. Nixon at the time was running for president, and not in any elected office at the time.
In 1968, the Johnson administration had talks with the North Vietnamese, to end the bombing, and then to start settlement talks. In Robert Mann's A Grand Delusion Richard Nixon's involvement in sabotaging those peace talks that was under way are exposed to all.
Why would Nixon get involved, well on page 619 Mann explains,
Nixon was worried. Not only had Humphrey's promise to end the bombing revived the flagging Democratic campaign, placing the two major candidates neck and neck in public opinion polls, now there was word of a potential breakthrough in the Paris peace talks. In Mid-October, Vance and Harriman finally believed they had struck a deal with North Vietnam... Nixon had sent word to Johnson that he knew about the breakthrough and suspected that Johnson was trying to "throw the election to Humphrey by pulling something in Paris."
How did Nixon know about the potential breakthrough, Wikipedia explains
Kissinger's involvement in Vietnam started prior to his appointment as National Security Adviser to Nixon. While still at Harvard he had worked as a consultant on foreign policy to both the White House and State Department and, in the summer of 1967, had acted as one of a series of intermediaries between Washington and Hanoi in a peace initiative codenamed "Pennsylvania". In the autumn of 1968, he used his contacts with the Johnson administration to tip-off the Nixon camp about an anticipated breakthrough in the Paris talks, which Nixon feared could cost him the campaign.
So I guess that's how Kissinger got to be National Security Advisor to Nixon in 1969.
So what happens next? Well Mann further explains Nixon's actions,
Rusk naively assured Johnson that the Republican nominee could be trusted...What Johnson, Rusk, and Clifford did not know, but would soon discover, was that Nixon not only knew about the deal, he saw it as a direct threat to his campaign-and he was actively working to sabotage the peace talks by turning the South Vietnamese government against any preelection peace agreement.
My emphasis in bold.
How did Nixon go about getting the South Vietnamese to balk at a peace deal?
Early in 1968, Nixon had opened up a confidential channel of communication with Bui Diem, South Vietnam's ambassador to Washington. His conduit was Madame Anna Chennault, the well connected China-born widow of General Claire Chennault...Well aware of Chennault's extensive contacts throughout Asia, Nixon eagerly embraced her as a campaign advisor. "I know you consider [Chennault] a friend,'" Nixon had told Bui in a private meeting earlier in the year. "So please rely on her from now on as the only contact between myself and your government."...When she learned of the deal between U.S. negotiators and the North Vietnamese, Chennault immediately contacted Nixon's campaign, where-upon she was instructed to advise South Vietnamese leaders that they should hold out for a better deal under a Nixon administration.
Nixon's hypocrisy apparently knew no bounds...when he reaffirmed his commitment to the success of the Paris peace talks at the very time his personal emissary was actively working to undermine them. "As long as there is a chance for an honorable peace through the Paris talks, candidates should offer nothing in the political arena that would risk undercutting our negotiators," Nixon said. "I hope President Johnson can honorably end this war. I hope it can be done quickly. When the Paris talks began last April, I pledged that I would do nothing that might interfere."
Mann explains further,
Encouraged by Nixon, via Chennault, Thieu finally balked at the agreement, clearly expecting more favorable treatment from a Republican administration...The North Vietnamese, meanwhile, sensed a Nixon victory and, expecting a better deal from the Johnson-Humphrey administration...On October 23, the Hanoi delegation proposed a hard-and-fast deal: a complete bombing halt...to be followed by four-way negotiations...When an agreement appeared imminent, Nixon- through Chennault- slowed it down by persuading Thieu to object with the assurance that Nixon would be tougher on Hanoi than Humphrey. Evan after Johnson announced the bombing halt, Thieu played right into Nixon's hand by rejecting the deal.
Nixon won the 1968 presidential election by a margin of only 500,000 votes. So what else did Nixon have in store for Johnson and Humphrey.
Four days before Nixon's January 20, 1969 inauguration, Thieu changed his mind. He agreed to send representatives of his government to the peace talks in Paris.
Mann concludes,
Nixon, on the other hand, was deceitful and, perhaps, even treasonous. He had worked to scuttle plans for peace talks to further his own campaign and suggested, deceptively, that he had a plan to end the war.
The amount of casualties from 1969 onward, that I place squarely on Nixon and Kissinger, American Casualties. The number of American deaths between 1969-1972 was 20,501, and the number of wounded was 102,270. I did not include Vietnamese casualties because I don't trust that there are accurate figures to be found.
I guess the statement, it's okay if your a Republican, fits. There is a link to Google book search where you can read sections of the Robert Mann's book, but the section with Nixon's subversion is not available. If someone wants to read a book about the lack of congressional oversight in a war "A Grand Delusion" shows the war in Vietnam from the actions in Washington. It is a good read, and you can buy it Here.