Answer:
The policy of Vietnamization was put forward by Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird in the spring of 1969 after his visit to South Vietnam. It was a response to the search by the Nixon administration for a new concept of American policy regarding the Vietnam War. Nixon won the 1968 presidential election under the banner of an “honorable peace” in Vietnam. At this point, war was extremely unpopular in American society; To curb public discontent, Nixon needed to reduce, first of all, the casualties of the US military in Vietnam.
The doctrine of Vietnamization was finally formulated during a meeting of Nixon with South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu on Midway Island, in June 8, 1969. It envisaged the quantitative (creation of new units, additional deliveries of military equipment) and qualitative (improvement of the training of soldiers, re-equipment with modern weapons and equipment) development of the South Vietnam army so that it gradually gained the opportunity to independently wage war against the communist forces. At the same time, a gradual withdrawal of American troops from the country, which was designed for several years, was announced.
The events of the Tet Offensive in 1975 showed that South Vietnam at that time was unable to confront the enemy in complete isolation from the United States, which led to its defeat. Therefore, the policy of Vietnamization, although it succeded in taking America out of the war, was seen as a failure.
In my opinion, the Vietnamization policy was a mistake, as the gradual withdrawal of American forces caused many Americans to continue fighting (and dying) in Vietnam for several more years after its implementation. A more concrete measure should have been taken: a total evacuation of American forces, or an increase in military participation. But this policy, by trying to be gradualist, ended up being ineffective.