Final answer:
Nixon ordered the bombing of North Vietnam in 1972 to cut off supplies to the Viet Cong and pressure North Vietnam into accepting US withdrawal terms. Despite the intensive bombing campaigns, these actions did not lead to a more favorable negotiation outcome for the US, and instead, North Vietnam maintained its positions in South Vietnam following the ceasefire agreement.
Step-by-step explanation:
President Richard Nixon ordered the intensive bombing of North Vietnam in 1972 to cut off supplies for the Viet Cong and to pressure North Vietnam into accepting US terms for withdrawal. This strategy, known as "peace with honor," aimed to project strength and protect the United States' geopolitical interests. Yet, despite the increase in bombings, including the infamous Christmas Bombings of December 1972, the effort largely backfired as the North Vietnamese remained steadfast, and the bombings did little to shift the balance in negotiations. The US ultimately accepted a ceasefire, which allowed North Vietnam to keep the territory it had captured in South Vietnam, returning to the bargaining tables with diminished leverage.
Nixon's approach was partly influenced by the desire to exit Vietnam "with honor" and to alleviate the political pressures he faced at home. He hoped that by intensifying bombings and mining North Vietnamese ports, North Vietnam would yield to US demands. However, the North Vietnamese knew that surviving the bombings would likely lead Nixon to accept their terms for withdrawal, given the political climate in the US.
Even in the context of Nixon's broader foreign policy, which involved secretive expansion of the war into neutral Cambodia to disrupt supply routes, these efforts were problematic in terms of international law and ethics, contributing to increased opposition to the war both domestically and internationally.