10th American History

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• 10th American History
• Unit V A Nation Facing Challenges
• Chapter 19 Section 3 1968 A Turning Point.

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Hey, Hey, LBJ (0341)
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1968 A Turning Point

• The Main Idea
• As the Vietnam War dragged on and increasingly
  appeared to be unwinnable, deep divisions
  developed in American society.
• Reading Focus
• What was the Tet Offensive?
• What were the effects of the Tet Offensive?
• How did President Johnson try to find a solution
  to the war?
• How did the election of 1968 illustrate divisions
  in American society?

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Tet Offensive 0523
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The Tet Offensive (0741)
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The Tet Offensive

• A series of massive coordinated attacks
  throughout South Vietnam

Tet Offensive

• In January 1968 thousands of NVA and Vietcong
  troops attacked a U.S. military base in Khe Sanh.
• This and other rural attacks were diversions to
  draw U.S. and ARVN forces away from urban areas.

Khe Sanh

• Main Communist offensive began on January 30,
  1968, at the start of Tet, the Vietnamese New
  Year.
• Some 84,000 Communist soldiers attacked 12 U.S.
  military bases and more than 100 cities across
  South Vietnam.

The Main Attacks
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Khe Sahn (0031)
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1968- Tet Offensive

• January- Tet lunar new year.
• Gen. Westmoreland tells the country how the war
  is being won.
• The Vietcong and North Vietnamese 84,000,
  attacked 36 of 44 provincial towns in addition to
  5 of 6 autonomous cities, 72 of 245 district
  towns, and many military bases and airfields on
  the same day. They even attack the U.S. embassy.
• All is retaken in few difficult weeks.
• NLF, Vietcong, are crushed as a fighting force.
• Westmoreland wants 206,000 more troops and more
  fighter squadrons.
• Graphic film footage of the fighting reinforced
  concerns about casualties, and the fact the
  offensive took place undermined the White House's
  claims that victory had been in sight.
• Did we really win the Tet Offensive?

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The Tet Offensive

• What was the Tet Offensive?
• Recall What took place in Khe Sanh in 1968?
• Analyze What was the purpose of the attack on
  Khe Sanh?

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The Tet Offensive

• Recall What happened when the U.S. Embassy in
  Siagon was attacked at the beginning of the Tet
  Offensive?
• Make Judgments Do you believe, as did General
  Westmoreland, that the Tet Offensive was a defeat
  for the Communists?

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Effects of the Tet Offensive

• General Westmoreland called the Tet Offensive a
  decisive defeat for the Communists.
• The cities taken by the Communists were retaken.
• About 45,000 enemy soldiers were killed. About
  1,100 Americans and 2,300 ARVN troops also died.
• The Communists showed that they were determined
  to keep on fighting.
• The Tet Offensive showed that no part of South
  Vietnam was safe from attack.
• The Tet Offensive caused many Americans to
  question whether or not the war in Vietnam could
  be won.
• President Johnson announced that he would not
  seek reelection.

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Effects of the Tet Offensive

• Growing Doubts
• Walter Cronkite broadcast a television report in
  which he gave his personal assessment of the
  situation in Vietnam.
• Major national magazines such as Time and
  Newsweek also expressed doubts about the war and
  began to call for its end.
• Public criticism of the governments policies
  grew louder and more intense.
• Leaders within Johnsons administration began to
  criticize Johnsons policies.
• Robert S. McNamara began to seek ways to end the
  war.

• Democratic Challengers
• Roughly 3 out of 4 Americans opposed his policies
  in Vietnam.
• Minnesota senator Eugene McCarthy challenged
  Johnson for the Democratic Partys nomination.
• New York senator Robert Kennedy entered the race.
• Shaken by the divisions within his party, Johnson
  announced that he would not seek nor accept the
  office of the presidency.

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Effects of the Tet Offensive

• What were the effects of the Tet Offensive?
• Recall Who was Walter Cronkite?
• Explain How did the Tet Offensive cause many
  Americans to doubt that the U.S. would soon win
  the war?

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Effects of the Tet Offensive

• Analyze How did Robert S. McNamaras position
  on the war change?
• Evaluate What role did electoral politics play
  in Johnsons deciding not to run in 1968?

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Credibility Gap

• Johnson did not tell Congress his intention to
  escalate the war.
• He did tell Congress how much it will cost.
• He was worried the the full truth would hurt the
  Great Society plans.
• He wanted to be a leader in war and a leader of
  peace.
• Credibility Gap- between what the President
  wanted people to believe and what was really
  believable.
• People began to doubt what their President would
  tell them.

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Searching for Solutions
President Johnson denied General Westmorelands
request for 206,000 more ground soldiers.
Johnsons advisors could not come up with the
best course for the war strategy. Robert
McNamara suggested limiting the air strikes and
reversing the escalation of the war.
Johnson decided to negotiate with the North
Vietnamese. The Paris peace talks stalled over
two issues the United States wanted all NVA
troops out of South Vietnam, and North Vietnam
would not accept a temporary South Vietnam
government that included a U.S.-backed president.
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Fall of LBJ

• Anti-War activists challenged LBJ for the
  Democratic nomination for President in 1968-
  Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy
• LBJs advisors and other world leaders thought
  the war was being handled badly and the U.S.
  should get out.
• Mar. 31, 1968- LBJ resticts bombing and calls for
  peace talks.
• I shall not seek, and I will not accept the
  nomination of my party for another term as your
  president.
• Peace Talks begin in May of 1968 and drag on for
  months without success. Our longest war.

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Johnson Seeks a Solution

• How did President Johnson try to find a solution
  to the war?
• Explain Why did Westmoreland request additional
  troops?
• Elaborate Why were many Americans outraged by
  Westmorelands request?

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Johnson Seeks a Solution

• Recall What alterations to President Johnsons
  policies in Vietnam did McNamara suggest?
• Analyze Why did peace talks between the U.S.
  and North Vietnam stall so quickly?

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The Presidential Campaign (0319)
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The Election of 1968

• The Democratic Primary Fight
• Vice President Hubert Humphrey entered the race
  and defended the administrations policies in
  Vietnam.
• Senator Eugene McCarthy called for a rapid end to
  the war.
• Senator Robert Kennedy also called for an end to
  the war and won primaries in Indiana, Nebraska,
  and California.
• Kennedy was shot leaving a Las Vegas hotel by
  Sirhan Sirhan, a Jordanian immigrant who didnt
  like Kennedys support for Israel.

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The Second Kennedy Assassination (0555)
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June 5, 1968 (0315)
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The Democratic Convention
Delegates at the Democratic National Convention
in Chicago debated between McCarthy and Humphrey.
Outside the convention, protesters from around
the country demanded an immediate end to the
war. Chicago mayor Richard Daley sent troops to
maintain order but violence soon broke out.
Television crews captured violent scenes between
protesters and police. The chaos was one symptom
of a growing generation gap over government,
politics, and the Vietnam War.
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Rebellion and the Democratic Convention of 1968

• Before the convention- King assassinated, RFK
  assassinated, and countless anti-war
  demonstrations.
• For the Democratic party, Chicago '68 doomed the
  candidacy of Hubert Humphrey and set off shock
  waves of reform.
• For the Left (antiwar), Chicago '68 hastened the
  demise of SDS and intensified the revolutionary
  fervor that would spawn street violence and
  bombings.
• Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman- leaders of the
  Youth International Party (YIPPIES) came to
  Chicago
• For the media, Chicago '68 created a deep
  suspicion of the state and its minions.
• For Chicago, Chicago '68 weakened support for the
  last of the big-city bosses and fanned the flames
  of political reform.
• In the end 8 police charged and 8 civilians
  charged (Chicago 8- later the Chicago 7

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Other Contenders in 1968

• Richard Nixon
• Republican
• Won the nomination at the Republican National
  Convention
• Chose Spiro Agnew as his running mate
• Appealed to the patriotism of mainstream
  Americans
• Promised law and order
• Claimed to have a secret plan to end the war
  with honor

• George Wallace
• Independent
• Former Alabama governor
• Nominated by the American Independent Party
• Opposed the civil rights movement and school
  desegregation and war protesters
• Appealed to conservative Democratic white
  southerners and working class whites

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The Election of 1968

• The Campaign
• Nixon led the polls for most of the campaign.
• Humphrey made gains when he said the bombing in
  Vietnam should be stopped and that the South
  Vietnamese should shoulder more of the wars
  responsibilities.
• The peace talks in Paris made some progress when
  the North Vietnamese agreed to include South
  Vietnamese representatives.
• Johnson announced an end to the bombing in
  Vietnam a few days before the election.

• The Results
• The election was very closejust 510,000 votes
  separated Nixon and Humphrey.
• Nixon won 43.4 percent of the votes cast to
  Humphreys 42.7 percent.
• Nixon won 301 electoral votes to Humphreys 191.
• Wallace was one of the most successful third
  party candidates in U.S. history (46 electoral
  votes and 13.5 percent of the popular vote).
• Nixons electoral margin provided him with a
  mandate to rule that allowed him to escalate the
  war in Vietnam.

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Election of 1968

• How did the election of 1968 illustrate divisions
  in American society?
• Identify Who was Hubert Humphrey?
• Contrast How did the policies of McCarthy,
  Kennedy, and Humphrey differ?

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Election of 1968

• Identify Who was Richard Daley?
• Explain Why did protestors gather outside the
  Democratic National Convention?
• Predict If Kennedy had not been assassinated,
  how might the election of 1968 turned out
  differently?