Transcript Section 4: 1968 A Tumultuous Year

Section 4: 1968 A Tumultuous
Year
An enemy attack in Vietnam,
two assassinations, and a
chaotic political convention
make 1968 an explosive year.
Tet Changes Public Opinion
•Before Tet, most Americans hawks; after Tet,
hawks, doves both 40%
•Mainstream media now openly criticizes war
•LBJ appoints Clark Clifford as new Secretary of
Defense
•After studying situation, Clifford concludes war is
unwinnable
•LBJ’s popularity drops; 60% now disapprove his
handling of the war
Protest Songs…
• Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young- Ohio
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82CYNj7noic
Days of Loss and Rage
Johnson Withdraws
•Senator Robert Kennedy enters 1968
race after LBJ’s popularity plummets
•LBJ announces will seek peace talks
and will not run for reelection
Violence and Protest Grip the Nation
•Riots erupt in over 100 cities after
Martin Luther King, Jr. is killed (April 4,
1968)
•Kennedy wins CA primary then is
fatally shot by a man for supporting
Israel (June 5, 1968)
•Major demonstrations on over 100
college campuses
A Turbulent Race for President
Vice-president Hubert Humphrey wins Democratic
nomination
Nixon Triumphs
• Nixon wins 1968 Republican nomination
• Campaign promises: restore law and order & end
war in Vietnam
• Nixon wins presidency
Section 5- The End of the War
and Its Legacy
President Nixon institutes his
Vietnamization policy, and America’s
longest war finally comes to an end.
President Nixon and Vietnamization
The Pullout of Troops Begins
•New president Richard Nixon finds negotiations
not progressing
•National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger works
on new plan
•Vietnamization—gradual withdraw of U.S. troops
from Vietnam, S. Vietnamese troops take over
“Peace with Honor”
• Nixon calls for “peace with honor” to maintain
U.S. dignity
• He still demands that South Vietnamese
government remain intact and the North
Vietnamese stay out of S. Vietnam
• Despite this he secretly orders bombing of
supply routes and bases in North Vietnam,
Cambodia, and Laos
Trouble continues on the Homefront
Mainstream America
•Nixon tries to appeal to the silent majority
• moderate, mainstream people who quietly
support the war
But events divide the country…
The My Lai Massacre
•News breaks that U.S. platoon massacred
civilians in My Lai village in S. Vietnam
•Lt. William Calley, Jr., in command, is convicted,
imprisoned
The Invasion of Cambodia
• 1970, U.S. troops invade Cambodia to clear
out Vietcong and North Vietnamese supply
centers
• College students explode in protest
• 1.5 million protesting college students close
down 1,200 campuses
Violence on Campus
•Kent State University
•May 4, 1970
•Massive student protest led to the burning of the
ROTC building
•Mayor calls in National Guard
•Protestors throw rocks at National GuardNational Guard fires tear gas and live ammo into
crowd
•9 wounded and 4 killed (2 were not even
participating in the rally)
•http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/05/04
/costello.kent.state.cnn
The Pentagon Papers
Nixon invades Cambodia without even notifying
Congress
Congress repeals Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Support for the war decreases even more…
Pentagon Papers-show plans to enter war
under LBJ before Gulf of Tonkin incident and that
there was never a plan to end the war as long as
the N. Vietnamese resisted
Confirm belief for many that the government
was not honest about its intentions
http://www.history.com/videos/tet-offensivesurprises-americans#pentagon-papers-revealsecret-war
America’s Longest War Ends
“Peace is at Hand”
•1972 N. Vietnamese launch largest attack since Tet;
U.S. bombs cities, mines Haiphong harbor
•Kissinger agrees to the complete withdrawal of U.S.claims that “Peace is at hand”
The Final Push
•S. Vietnam rejects Kissinger plan to have North
Vietnamese troops stationed in South Vietnam
•Bombing resumes (“Christmas bombings”)
•Finally both sides call for end to war; peace signed
January 1973 (but N. Vietnamese troops would remain in
South Vietnam)
• On March 29, 1973 the last U.S. combat troops left
Vietnam
The Fall of Saigon
• Cease-fire b/n North and South collapses and
fighting continues
• South surrenders after North invades in March of
1975
• Made into a unified Communist Vietnam
The evacuation
of Saigon
The War Leaves a Painful Legacy
American Veterans Cope Back Home
• 58,000 Americans killed in war, over 300,000
wounded
• Over 2 million North and South Vietnamese killed
• Returning veterans face indifference, hostility
at home.
• Many veterans adjust successfully but about 15%
develop post-traumatic stress disorder.
Further Turmoil in Southeast Asia
• Communists put 400,000 S. Vietnamese in
labor camps; 1.5 million flee.
• Civil war breaks out in Cambodia; Khmer
Rouge seizes power.
• Want to establish peasant society; kill at least
1 million people.
The Legacy of Vietnam
•1973- government abolishes military draft
•1973 Congress passes War Powers Act:
– President must inform Congress within 48 hours of
deploying troops into hostile area
– 90 day maximum deployment without
Congressional approval
•Vietnam Veterans Memorial completed in 1982- Names
listed in chronological order. Reflective stone used to
bring the “past and the present together”