Today in history: The secret bombing of Cambodia

March 18, 1837: Grover Cleveland was born. He was the 22nd president, serving between 1885 and 1889. He lost his re-election bid in 1888 to Benjamin Harrison, but then defeated Harrison's own election bid in 1892. Thus Cleveland was also the 24th president, serving between 1893 and 1897.

March 18, 1969: As the Vietnam War raged, President Richard Nixon ordered the bombing of neighboring Cambodia for the first time. Nixon believed Cambodia was being used as a staging area for attacks on American forces; the bombings were kept secret for two months and continued through April 1970. A total of 3,630 sorties dropped 110,000 tons of ordnance.

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"He mocks the people who propose that the government shall protect the rich and that they in turn will care for the laboring poor." -Grover Cleveland

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