Which US president was in office when Saigon fell on April 30, 1975?

Gerald Ford was the U.S. president when Saigon fell on April 30, 1975.

Ford had become president on August 9, 1974, after Richard Nixon resigned during the Watergate scandal. He therefore occupied the White House during the final collapse of the Republic of Vietnam, although the United States had already withdrawn most combat forces under the 1973 Paris Peace Accords.

As North Vietnamese forces advanced in 1975, Ford’s administration organized the evacuation of Americans and many Vietnamese allies. The dramatic helicopter evacuation from the U.S. Embassy became the best-known image of the fall. Ford addressed the nation afterward, describing the evacuation as the end of American involvement in Vietnam.

A common mix-up is Richard Nixon, who was president when the Paris Peace Accords were signed and when U.S. combat involvement largely ended. Jimmy Carter did not take office until January 1977. Saigon was later renamed Ho Chi Minh City.