1. Chapter 22 Section 4 Notes 1968 – A Turning Point

2. 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

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

4. 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)

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

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 1968 Election (November)
A lot of the public hated all of the candidates

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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 1968 Election Nixon Wins a Close Election