1968: A Tumultuous Year Chapter 22 – Section 4

Tet Offensive: January 1968 January 30 is the Vietnamese equivalent of New Year’s Eve. It is known as “Tet.” In the week before the holiday, Vietcong fighters were busy smuggling weapons into South Vietnam via coffins intended for war casualties. On the night of the 30th a massive attack was carried out by VC in hundreds of towns and villages through South Vietnam.

Effects of Tet The Tet Offensive ended in an American military victory. Vietcong lost about 32,000 soldiers, while ARVN forces lost around 3000. The political effect of Tet was fatal - Within weeks, Americans had lost faith in the Johnson administration. 56% of Americans still supported the war before Tet, only 40% supported it after Tet. Only 4 days after the battle ended, Robert McNamara was forced to resign as Secretary of Defense. He was replaced by Clark Clifford.

Johnson & McNamara

Johnson & McNamara

Johnson & McNamara

Johnson & McNamara

The End of LBJ The growing division over Vietnam led Democrats to look for someone to challenge LBJ in the 1968 primary. Senator Eugene McCarthy answered the call and took 42% of the New Hampshire primary election – shocking LBJ who won with only 48%. Shortly after the New Hampshire primary, Robert Kennedy entered the race to challenge LBJ. In March, 1968, LBJ announced to the nation that he would not run for President.

Bobby Kennedy - 1968 With LBJ refusing to accept the nomination of the Democratic Party, it looked as if Robert Kennedy – RFK – would go on to win the nomination. After a successful California Primary in June, however, RFK was gunned down by a young Palestinian named Sirhan Sirhan.

Bobby Kennedy - 1968

Martin Luther King- Killed April 4, 1968 Bobby Kennedy – Killed June 5, 1968

The Death of RFK

Chaos in Chicago The Chaos of 1968 climaxed in August at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. With LBJ & RFK out of the race, the nomination came down to Hubert Humphrey – a pro war candidate – and Eugene McCarthy – a pro peace candidate. Humphrey won the ticket.

Dirty Politics Although McCarthy was still popular with the nation’s anti-war population, he had little chance of defeating Humphrey, a loyal party man who had the support of LBJ. The convention in Chicago proved to be only a formality as the decision to nominate Humphrey had already been determined by leading Democrats. Anti-War protesters converged on Chicago to protest. The violence shocked Americans.

McCarthy & Humphrey

1968 Chicago Convention

Election of 1968 As a result of Democratic division, Republicans easily won the election. Richard Nixon – the Republican candidate became the next president. Third party candidate George Wallace finished a distant third.