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The key events of 1968…
• The Tet Offensive
• The assassination of MLK
• The assassination of RFK
• The 1968 Democratic
Convention
• The 1968 Presidential
election
Tet Offensive
• Am. Government had been saying that
we were winning the war
• Jan., 1968 – major N. Vietnamese
offensive strike against provincial and
district capitals in S. Vietnam
• Attacked Am. Embassy in Saigon
• Psychological victory for N. Vietnam
and Vietcong – could launch a massive
attack on targets in S. Vietnam
80 cities or
military bases
were
simultaneously
attacked
during the Tet
Offensive
The Tet Offensive
Effects of Tet?
•
•
•
•
Lost the war at home
49% opposed the war
Demonstrations increased
Congress refused to increase troops
General Westmoreland had requested
• Secret negotiations began in Paris
• March 31, 1968 Johnson announced he
would not run for President
February, 1968
– News anchor
Walter Cronkite
pronounced the
war unwinnable.
"If I've lost
Cronkite,… I've
lost middle
America.“ - LBJ
MLK and the War?
• Openly opposed the war
• Harassed by the FBI
• Connected domestic unrest with the
war
• Lost support of liberal Democrats
• April 4, assassinated by James Earl
Ray in Memphis, Tennessee
• Riots broke out in 100 cities
Convicted
assassin
James Earl
Ray
300,000
attended
MLK’s
funeral
Democratic Choices – 1968?
• Robert F.
Kennedy
• Choice of liberals
who disagreed
with Johnson’s
war and African
Americans
Democratic Choices – 1968?
Eugene
McCarthy –
liberal
Democrats and
white
suburbanites –
popular on
college
campuses
RFK won the California primary--
Assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan
Vice President Hubert Humphrey
• Cold war
Democrat
• Pro-civil rights
and anti-poverty
• Least likely to
“rock the boat”
• Democratic
candidate for
president
The Whole World is Watching!
• Chicago – Democratic National
Convention
• Anti-war activists called for
demonstrations
• Yippies – Abbie Hoffman and “Festival
of Life”
• Mayor Richard Daley – refused parade
permits and encouraged police to
provoke a riot
Violence centered around….
• Police forcing protesters out of
certain areas
–Protesters wanted to sleep in
Lincoln Park
–Police bombed with tear gas and
beat them with billy clubs
–Press was attacked also
Battle of Michigan Avenue…
• Protesters tried to march to the
convention center
• Media recorded graphic violence on the
part of the Chicago police
• Innocent bystanders (reporters and
doctors) were beaten
• Delegates’ hotels effected by fumes
from tear gas and stink bombs
Demonstrators at Grant Park
Soldier beats up doctor
Final Day of the Convention…
• Another clash when protesters
tried to reach the convention
• 589 arrests, 119 and 100 protesters
injured
• Government funded study placed
most of the blame on the Chicago
police
• Mayor Daley gave them a raise
Dissension among Democrats….
• Humphrey had more delegates than he
needed – viewed as “Johnson’s man”
• Contentious issue: Vietnam
• Debate over peace plank to the
platform
• When peace language defeated –
delegates marched around the
convention in protest singing “We Shall
Overcome”