1. 19.2: Vietnam Divides the Nation

2. A. An Antiwar Movement Emerges
Support for containment:
1965
a. 66% in favor
b. 24% opposed
Educational hearings – informing the Senate on military strategy.

3. 3. General Westmoreland: “enemy’s hopes are bankrupt”
Wanted large # of troops
by 1967 >500,000
Living room war: Media and credibility gap effect Americans
George Kennan (the Long Telegram?) – American diplomat: Vietnam not strategically important to US

4. 4. “Teach-ins” Students and teachers skipped class
Gather to discuss the wrongs of the war
Civil war
Supporting a dictatorship

5. 5. Vietnam Soldiers & the Draft
Draft implemented; most in combat units
avg. age 19; WWII
Disproportionately AA, Latino, and poor
MLK criticizes high # of AA (13%, 10%, 20%)
“White man’s war”
Returning soldiers protest

6. 5. Vietnam Soldiers & the Draft
g. Burn draft cards
h. Leave country
i. Serve jail time
j. 26th Amendment – voting rights for 18 y/o.

7. 6. Doves vs. Hawks b. Should continue & increase force in Vietnam
a. Opposed war & wanted troops to withdraw from Vietnam

8. B : The Pivotal Year
The worst year of the 1960s!

9. The Tet Offensive

10. 1. The Tet Offensive Vietnam’s New Years Week-long peace agreement
Funerals being held during this time = easy attack
Deaths due to attacks:
i. Vietcong - 32,000
ii. US - 3,000
Victory? For who? How?
Americans realize war is a unwinnable
Walter Cronkite

13. 2. Public Opinion on War Before Tet Offensive 28% Doves 56% Hawks
After Tet Offensive
40% Doves
40% Hawks
60 % war mishandled
50% mistake to go in

15. 3. A Season of Violence (1968)
March: Johnson announces he will not seek a second term
April: MLK assassinated;
AA communities responded with riots; 46 dead
c. June: Robert Kennedy assassinated
d. August: Democratic National Convention; Chicago; Mayor Daley

16. Mayor Richard J. Daley

21. Presidential Election 1968
Hubert Humphrey (D)
Richard M. Nixon (R)