The Vietnam War: 1968

1. The Vietnam War: 1968

2. Mid 1960s Review • Civil rights strife: assassination of Macolm X; SNCC, Black Panthers • LBJ's first election, 1964 • LBJ’s Great Society programs extended JFK’s New Frontier: War on Poverty, Medicare, Medicaid • LBJ's policy of escalation in Vietnam, 1965-1968 • American justification for intervention: "Aggression from the North"

3. 1967 “Vietnam Summer” • 1967: "Vietnam Summer" • US involvement reached 550,000-troop presence • Generational split • Elder generation supported use of force to prevent the spread of communist threat • Younger generation believed "threat" to be of too little consequence to justify their participation in war. 41% of pop was under 20.

4. 1967 Student Protests • Martin Luther King, Jr.: billions spent in Vietnam could be better spent combating domestic poverty • US society wrenched by racial tension and movement for racial equality • Marijuana and hallucinogenic drugs accepted by "counter culture," especially in SF Bay Area • Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) focused in UC Berkeley: speeches, demonstrations, folk music, “teach-ins” • October 1967: protestors raised Vietcong flag on Pentagon flagstaff, burned draft cards

6. Into the 1968 Election • Eugene McCarthy, Democrat from Minnesota: immediate withdrawal from Vietnam • New Hampshire primary: McCarthy received 42%; Johnson 49% • Bobby Kennedy entered Democratic race four days later • Tet Offensive: January-September • General Westmoreland's Appraisal of the 1968 Tet Offensive • further escalation of troop commitment needed to "win" the war • invasions of Cambodia and Laos were necessary • invasion of North Vietnam necessary • cost should increase from 17b to 27b yearly taxes would have to be raised

7. Assassinations • MLK • April 4, 1968 in Memphis • Race riots erupted across US • Johnson declared April 9 national day of mourning • 2 months later, James Earl Ray captured in UK, confessed, but later retracted confession • Bobby Kennedy • June 4, 1968 in L.A. • Had been leading Demo-cratic primary race • Hubert Humphrey won primary, and lost to Nixon

8. 1968 Democratic Convention • After appraisal of the Tet Offensive, Johnson announced • his decision to withdraw from the presidential campaign • Cessation of bombing north of 19th parallel • hope for immediate peace talks with Ho Chi-minh • Chicago Democratic Convention • Democratic incumbent withdrawn • Pro-McCarthy Student demonstrations and police clash televised • Failure to convince moderate Democrats • Republican challenger: Richard M. Nixon, Republican from California • Campaigned against Kennedy in 1960 • "End the War and Win the Peace"

9. 1968 Election Illustrated… • Public perceived US policy in Vietnam as a failure • Public opinion changed policy in Vietnam • Huge generational gap in opinion about government and war • Public’s perception of the Cold War had changed • Heightened responsiveness of president to American popular opinion • US public changed morality regarding foreign policy: foreign intervention might not be justified