1968 america tears itself apart. tension building vietnam – antiwar movement becomes more popular...
TRANSCRIPT
19681968
America tears itself apart
Tension Building
• Vietnam
–Antiwar movement becomes more popular• Martin Luther King, Jr• Robert Kennedy• Eugene McCarthy
“Doves” vs.. “Hawks”
The Tet Offensive
• January 1968• NLF and DRV launch
coordinated attacks against major SV cities– NLF wants to convince US to
come to bargaining table
Tet Offensive
• January 1968: 60% of Americans support the war
• March 1968: Only 41%
• Johnson losing the war at home
US Troops fight off Viet Cong at Hue
TV Journalist Walter Cronkite at Hue
My Lai
• March 18, 1968– US Soldiers massacre 347 villagers– After Tet offensive– Soldiers on high alert– Considered revenge killings for Tet Offensive
• Initially covered up, but when story broke support for war diminished sharply
LBJ Withdraws
• March 31, 1968– Eugene McCarthy had just won New Hampshire
primary with 42% of vote
– LBJ announces “de-escalation”
– Also announces that he will neither seek nor accept the nomination for a second term
“LBJ, LBJ, How many kids did you kill today?”
- Popular Protest Chant
Tension Building
• Counterculture
–Hippies• Recreational drugs•Music• “Drop Out”
Tension Building
• Civil Rights– Race riots in Newark and Detroit – Many new civil rights leaders begin to
advocate:• Use of violent protest• Black-only movements
– Black Panthers
King Assassination
• April 4, 1968• Martin Luther King, Jr. killed– James Earl Ray is suspected
assassin
– Stokely Carmichael leads riot in Washington, DC
“When white America killed Dr. King, she declared war on us.”
- Stokely Carmichael
King shortly before assassination
King family at MLK’s coffin
James Earl Ray
Students Occupy Columbia
• April 23, 1968• Mark Rudd– Chairman of Columbia Students
for a Democratic Society (SDS)
• Police crack down– 150 protesters injured, 700
arrested
RFK Assassination
• June 5, 1968• Robert Kennedy wins California primary• After victory speech is shot by Sirhan Sirhan– To protest US support for Israel– RFK dies the following day
Kennedy giving victory speech
Kennedy wounded after shooting
Sirhan Sirhan
Americans become disenchanted and cynical –maybe some things will never change?
Yippie Movement
• Abbie Hoffman– Youth International Party
– Guerilla Theatrics – “Groucho Marxists”
– Hoffman announce Yippies going to Chicago to protest Democratic Convention
“Sacred cows make the tastiest hamburger”
- Attributed to Abbie Hoffman
Democratic Convention
• August 28, 1968– Yippies “Festival of Life”
• Mayor Richard Daly orders crackdown on protests– Hoffman and others tried for
conspiracy – found innocent
• Hubert Humphrey becomes Democratic nominee
“With George McGovern as President we wouldn’t have Gestapo tactics in the street of Chicago”
- Sen. Abraham Ribikoff
Nixon Elected• November 5, 1968– Richard Nixon (Republican)• 43.4%
– Hubert Humphrey (Democrat)• 42.7%
– George Wallace (Independent)• 13.5%