1968 a tumultuous year. hawksdoves hawks pro-war worldwide struggle against communism must protect...
TRANSCRIPT
HAWKS PRO-WAR worldwide struggle against
communism must protect SE Asia need ground troops to be
successful Critical of Johnson for
fighting a limited war not using all of America’s
firepower Critical of Americans who
didn’t support the war as unpatriotic
ANTI-WAR Civil war among the
Vietnamese peopleNone of our businessCritical of Johnson for
lying about the Gulf of Tonkin incident
size and purpose of troops progress of the fighting sacrificing Americans in an
undeclared war killing of Vietnamese
citizens
HAWKS AND DOVES
DOVES
December 1967 Westmoreland: “war is almost won”Enemy has no strength left
Tet: Vietnamese New YearCelebrated late January/early February (lunar
holiday)Tet usually not a time of fighting (remember: civil
war)January 30, 1968 (Tet)
Massive attack by VietcongEvery major city and installation in South Vietnam
simultaneously
TET OFFENSIVE
RESULTS OF TET – PARISU.S. agrees to talk with
North VietnameseU.S. must agree to stop
bombing North VietnamTalks go nowhere"New agreement of sorts
from the Paris peace talks. After a six hour talk, both sides finally agreed on corned beef on rye for lunch!“
Couldn’t agree on shape of table!
RESULTS OF TET – SOUTH VIETNAMAncient capital, Hue,
destroyedARVN – Army of the
Republic of South Vietnam (government army) retakes lost cities and towns
Government loses supportU.S. bombing intensifies in
South VietnamVietcong are everywhereWestmoreland wants more
troops
RESULTS OF TET – UNITED STATESJohnson criticized by
both Hawks and Doves More intense anti-war
protests in U.S."That . . . war, killed the
lady I really loved -- The Great Society.“
March 31, 1968: Johnson announces he will not run again for president
Johnson announcement
RESULTS OF TET – UNITED STATESDemocratic Party
splinters between Hawk and Dove factions
April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmOBbxgxKvo
Intense race riots follow
Split in Democratic Party
Three Democrats seek nominationHubert HumphreyEugene McCarthyRobert Kennedy
ELECTION OF 1968 – THE DEMOCRATS
ELECTION OF 1968 – THE DEMOCRATSHUBERT HUMPHREYJohnson’s Vice-
PresidentStatus Quo – continue
Johnson’s policiesSupport of “Old
Guard” DemocratsMoney of the
Democratic PartyHawks of the
Democratic Party
ELECTION OF 1968 – THE DEMOCRATSEugene McCarthy Senator (Minnesota)Challenged Johnson
for nomination before Johnson dropped out
Opposed to warSupported by
youthanti-war peopleDoves
ELECTION OF 1968 – THE DEMOCRATSRobert Kennedy Senator (New York)Opposed to warSupported by
youthanti-war peopleDoves
How is he different from McCarthy?
Won California primary (June 4) – what ended his presidential bid?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmc2EzkRDkI
ELECTION OF 1968 – THE DEMOCRATSDemocratic Convention
in ChicagoHumphrey gets
nominationViolence between
Doves and police
ELECTION OF 1968Richard NixonEnd war on our terms
Restore “Law and Order”Very much against anti-war protesters
ELECTION OF 1968George WallaceFormer Governor of
AlabamaAnti-civil rightsV-P candidate, Curtis
LeMay, advocated using nukes in Vietnam
“The only four letter words hippies don’t know are w-o-r-k and s-o-a-p”