election of 1964. pres. johnson expands the conflict 1.tonkin gulf resolution (1964): a. granted...
TRANSCRIPT
Election of 1964
Pres. Johnson expands the conflict1. Tonkin Gulf Resolution
(1964): a. Granted Johnson military
powers in Vietnam without officially declaring war!
b. Written weeks prior to Tonkin incident
2. Operation Rolling Thundera. First prolonged bombing of
North Vietnamb. In hopes of avoiding
sending ground troops
3. US Supports War Efforts
a. cabinet agrees Vietnam needs help
b. Citizens support it as well
i. 61% in favor
ii. 24% opposed
c. Saigon on the verge of collapse
4. General Westmoreland
a. Advocate for very large number of troops
b. 500,000 by 1967
c. War of attrition
Supreme Commander
5. US Strategies
a. War of Attrition: wearing down the enemy by continuous harassment
b. body count; (unpatriotic) c. Win over the “hearts and minds” of the S.
Vietnamesed. Chemical warfare: napalm/agent orangee. Search and destroy missions/civiliansf. Millions of refugees
Napalm(gasoline-base bomb) attack
14 months in hospital/17 surgeries
6. War in the Jungle: the VCa. Guerilla tacticsb. hiding within
civilian population/city and countryside
c. Booby traps and land mines
d. Terrain/tunnels
Vietcong Tunnels
C. Losing Morale
1. soldiersa. Lose confidence b. Drugs and alcoholc. Killing superior
officers
2. At home
a. Economy suffers/
Inflation
b. Using SS funds
c. Increased taxes
d. $21 B a year on war
e. Living room war: media and credibility gap effect U.S. citizens
1968
The Tet Offensive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3mfXnFtwQc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3mfXnFtwQc
1:40-
m/watch?v=S3mfXnFtwQc
A. The Tet Offensive (1968)
1. Tet: January 30, Vietnam’s New Years Eve
2. Week-long peace agreement with Vietcong in honor of the holiday
3. Funerals also being held during this time
4. Vietcong used coffins as decoys; filled with with weapons
5. Deaths due to attacks
Vietcong: 32,000 US: 3,000
6. Americans and Congress: “unwinnable” war
B. Public Opinion on War
1. Before Tet Offensive28% Doves
56% Hawks
2. After Tet Offensive40% Doves
40% Hawks
3. 60 % war mishandled
4. 50% mistake to go in
5. Doves vs. Hawks
Opposed war & wanted troops to withdraw from
Vietnam
Should continue & increase force in
Vietnam
C. Days of Loss (1968)
1. March: Johnson announces he will not seek a second term
2. April: MLK assassinateda. AA riots; 46 deadb. Stokely Carmichael “US
declares war on us”
3. Citizens more critical of war4. June: Robert Kennedy
assassinated; Sirhan Sirhan
5. DNC Chicago – fighting inside and outside
Chicago: Mayor Daley “shoot to kill” order,
April 4, 1968• James Earl Ray assassinates MLK
• Violence erupts throughout the US/125 cities
Urban Violence
1. Harlem, Watts, Chicago, Detroit….
2. Needed economic equality: opportunity in jobs, housing, and education
1968 DNC - Chicago
Presidential Election 1968
Hubert Humphrey (D)
Richard M. Nixon (R)
Nixon’s War
“To bring peace with honor”
A. Nixon and Vietnamization1. Allowing for the Vietnamese
to take a more active role by withdrawing US troops
2. Peace with honor… “save face”; wanted a say at negotiation table
3. Secretly continues to bomb supply routes in N. Vietnam military bases, Laos and Cambodia
4. Silent majority: mainstream Americans who quietly supported the president’s strategy
Ho Chi Minh trail
B. Invasion of Cambodia (4/’70)
1. Destroy N. Vietnamese and Vietcong supply centers
2. Leads to incidents such as student strikes and protest rallies on college campuses; ie, Kent State, Jackson State
3. Congress repeals the Gulf Tonkin Resolution
C. Kent State, Ohio (5/’70)
1. ROTC targeted due to military connection
2. National Guard sent out = 4 killed
3. Jackson State, Ms = 2 killed
D. Henry Kissinger
1. National Security Advisor
2. Main negotiator w/N.Vietnam
3. Nobel Peace Prize winner 1973
•
E. My Lai Massacre (11/69)
A Generation in Conflict
A. Vietnam’s Effect on America1. Draft stopped
2. War Powers Act (1973)a. President must inform congress within 48 hours if US
forces are sent into a hostile area without a declaration of war
b. Troops may not stay longer than 90 days unless congress approves presidents action or declares war
3. Foreign affairs: what risks do we take by getting involved?
4. Truman’s Containment policy unenforceable
B. War’s Painful Legacy
1. American’s vets come home
a. 58,000 killedb. Came home to
hostiles; no paradesc. 15% (450,000)
PTSD, suicides, addicts
d. 1982: Vietnams Veterans Memorial
Early Campus Protests
a. Classroom strikes
b. Sit-ins
c. War and campus issues
Vietnam Soldiers
1. Young – avg. 19; 26 WWII
2. Disproportionately AA and Latino
3. “White man’s war”
4. Returning soldiers protest
Crisis in the Cities1. Federal Housing Admin
a. Dev. of suburbia, not cities
b. Redlining neighborhoods
c. “Slum lords”
d. Highway disruptions
2. Unemployment & pollution high
3. Inner city growth a. AA: south
b. Whites: Appalachia
c. Latinos: Puerto Ricans
D. Urban Uprising
1. Why?a. Police brutality
b. Unemployment
c. No health facilities
d. Poor schools
e. Inadequate housing
2. Where– Watts, San Francisco,
Detroit, Cleveland, Newark
Watts Riots (1965)
E. LBJ’s Kerner Commission1. Riots due to “white racism” & police brutality
2. “two societies, one black, one white – separate and unequal”
Election 1972
Richard Nixon
Republican
George McGovern
Democrat
F. Nixon, China & the S.U.1. Policy of détente –
easing cold war tensions
2. Feb. 1972 Nixon visits China = better relations
3. Visits Leonid Brezhnev @ Moscow
– Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I)
G. Watergate
1. Major Players a. Carl Bernstein
b. Bob Woodward
c. Ben Bradleei. Serves as vice president
to the Washington Post today
ii. Responsible for revealing the Pentagon Papers @ the Washington Post
iii. Daniel Ellsberg released them
– “Plumbers” after him
Bernstein, Bradlee, & Woodward
James Butterfield – White House Aide/tapes
2. “Saturday Night Massacre”
a. Nixon wants him fired.
b. Those who are supposed to fire him resign instead.
Archibald Cox
Special Prosecutor
President Nixon’s Last Day
3. House Judiciary Committeea. Three articles of
impeachment: obstruction of justice
b. VP Agnew resigned in Oct ’73; tax evasion, kickbacks as gov. of Maryland
c. Gerald Ford new VP
d. Nixon resigns Aug ’74
e. Gerald Ford new Pres
f. Pardons Nixon