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The Tet Offensive and the Divided America

This chapter examines the impact of the Tet Offensive on the American public and the factors that influenced the outcome of the 1968 presidential election. It explores the fierce fighting during the Tet Offensive and its aftermath, as well as the political climate of the time.

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The Tet Offensive and the Divided America

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  1. Chapter 16-Section 3 (Part 2)The War Divides America United States History Ms. Girbal Thursday, May 28, 2015

  2. Objectives • Analyze the Tet Offensive and the American reaction to it. • Summarize the factors that influenced the outcome of the 1968 presidential election.

  3. In early 1968, the Vietcong and North Vietnamese launched the TetOffensive. In November 1967, General Westmoreland addressed the nation’s concerns about the war. He claimed the Vietcong had weakened and could no longer mount a major attack.

  4. The Tet Offensive attacked major cities and bases in South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. The fighting was fierce, but American and South Vietnamese forces eventually drove back the offensive.

  5. After the Tet Offensive, U.S. military leaders became less certain that the war could end quickly. The new Secretary of Defense, Clark Clifford, recommended that President Johnson pursue peace, rather than victory, in Vietnam.

  6. Democratic Senator Eugene McCarthy (Minnesota),who opposed the war, made a strong showing in the New Hampshire primary. Robert Kennedy, a Democratic Senator from New York, also announced his candidacy. Johnson announced he would not run for another term as president.

  7. In 1968 violence stunned the nation. • In April, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. • Senator Robert Kennedy was assassinated in June, just after he had won the California Democratic primary. • Police used rough tactics to break up student protests outside the Democratic Convention in Chicago.

  8. Republicans held a more peaceful convention in Miami, choosing Richard M. Nixon as their presidential candidate. Eventually the Democrats chose Hubert Humphrey, Johnson’s VP as their presidential candidate.

  9. He called for “peace with honor” in Vietnam. • He appealed to the “silent majority” — people who were not protesting. • He benefited because Democrats were split between Humphrey and George Wallace, a third-party candidate from the South.

  10. Nixon won the 1968 election.

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