Chapter 22 Section 4 Notes 1968 – A Turning Point

Tet (End of Jan) Supposed to be a pause in the Vietnam War Tet = Vietnamese New Year A week long armistice agreed on A lot of Media in S. Vietnam to cover it

Tet Offensive Surprise attack launched mainly by the Vietcong Over 100 cities, U.S. air bases, & U.S. Embassy affected Lasts around a Month

Results of Tet Offensive 32,000 Vietcong killed 3,000 U.S. and S. Vietnamese killed Looks like a victory for U.S. on the surface (Body Count)

U.S. Leaders Begin to View the War as Unwinnable Clark Clifford – New Secretary of Defense His views below kept private at the time

Public Opinion Towards Vietnam Changes After Tet People sick of hearing “we’re going to win soon” People sick of seeing troops dying every day TV Plays a large role in this Walter Cronkite – most famous reporter Political effects LBJ’s popularity goes down Before Tet = Most Americans were clearly Hawks Silent majority (remember) After Tet = Americans became more evenly divided

This is a famous picture of a South Vietnamese military official executing a suspected Vietcong operative during the Tet Offensive. It was published throughout the U.S. and influenced some to change their minds on supporting U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

1968 Presidential Campaign Republicans – Nixon clear favorite Democrats – 3 person race to start the year LBJ – incumbent (the favorite) Eugene McCarthy = little known Senator (the underdog) Against the war… does well in early primaries Robert F. Kennedy = former Attorney General (the name) Decides to run after seeing how well McCarthy does

LBJ Announcements (March) Both occur on live TV Nobody knows they are coming U.S. would begin the process of ending the war No more escalation, less U.S. troop involvement LBJ ends his Presidential reelection bid Endorses his VP (Hubert Humphrey) for the job.

2 Assassinations MLK Jr. (early April) Robert Kennedy (early June) riots and violence in lots of cities Robert Kennedy (early June) was leading Democrat candidate by then had just won California primary killed by Sirhan Sirhan Palestinian… angry of RFK’s support for Israel. Sirhan Sirhan was originally sentenced to death. California made death penalty illegal, so it changed to life in prison. Still in jail today. Claims he doesn’t remember killing RFK RFK was killed less than 30 minutes after this picture as he was walking through a kitchen area in the hotel

Democratic Convention in Chicago (August) Huge Mess! (I’ll explain) 2 biggest vote getters going into the convention were LBJ and RFK 2 Candidates remain Hubert Humphrey & Eugene McCarthy

Trouble at the Convention 10,000 Anti-war people gather outside the convention. want McCarthy (Humphrey wins) want Dem. Party to promise to end war (doesn’t happen) Police and National Guard called to “maintain order” Rioting occurs… police use force All captured on TV…. Looks really bad Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daley authorizes it

1968 Election (November) A lot of the public hated all of the candidates

George Wallace 3rd Party Candidate former Alabama Governor Racist (supported segregation) Won 5 Southern states in the election Had limited support in the North

Hubert Humphrey Democrat Candidate Endorsed by LBJ Unpopular Convention was a nightmare Talked a lot Really long answers to ?’s Viewed as a puppet for LBJ

Richard Nixon Republican Candidate VP under Eisenhower (1952-1960) Lost 1960 Election to Kennedy Lost 1962 California Governor election 2 major issues he ran on Ending war in Vietnam Many didn’t believe him Ending rioting and protests in cities This button was made by those against Nixon

1968 Election Nixon Wins a Close Election