getting to california ____________ - faced by the johnson administration as they continued to say...

____________ - faced by the Johnson administration as they continued to say the war was going well, but nightly images of the war on television showed numerous Americans dying

____________ - as college students grew concerned that they would be drafted, many schools held meetings to inform them about the war (usually in a negative light)

____________ - Constitutional amendment that lowered the voting age to 18 in all state and federal elections

____________ - (bird) those in favor of the war in Vietnam

____________ - (bird) those against the war in Vietnam

____________ - (1/30/68) after Americans were promised that an end was coming to the war, the Vietcong and North Vietnamese launch a massive attack at many locations simultaneously. Although a military defeat, it was a public relations disaster as public opinion went against the war

____________ - due to the lack of progress in Vietnam and challenges within his own party, he decides not to run for reelection in 1968

Ch 25 Sec 3: Vietnam Divides the Nation

Intro 2

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Textbook Assignment (pp.784-787)

1) Why was the United States government facing a credibility gap with the American public during the Vietnam War?

2) Why was the Vietnam War draft considered unfair by many Americans? What steps did the government take to solve this problem?

3) What right was granted by the 26th Amendment and why was it passed at this time?

4) If all Americans were birds, according to a poll taken in 1967, 68% of Americans could be referred to as _____ while 32% would be considered _______.

Section 3: Vietnam Divides the Nation

Intro 2


Textbook Assignment (pp.787-788)

1) Where in South Vietnam did the Tet Offensive take place?

2) What were the military results of the Tet Offensive?

3) What were the psychological results of the Tet Offensive to the American public?

4) What led to President Lyndon Johnson’s decision not to run for reelection in 1968?

Section 3: The Tet Offensive

Intro 4


Chapter ObjectivesSection 3: Vietnam Divides the Nation

• Analyze why support for the war began to weaken.

• Describe the motives of those in the antiwar movement.

Section 3-1


Guide to Reading

The experience of Vietnam produced sharp divisions between Americans who supported the war and those who did not.

• William Westmoreland

Main Idea

Key Terms and Names

• credibility gap • teach-in

• dove • hawk

• Tet offensive

A Growing Credibility Gap


• When American troops first entered the Vietnam War, many Americans supported the military effort.

• As the war in Vietnam continued to drag on, public support decreased.

(pages 784–785)(pages 784–785)

A Growing Credibility Gap


• Americans began to question the government and believed a credibility gap had developed, making it difficult to believe what the Johnson administration said about the war.

(pages 784–785)(pages 784–785)

An Antiwar Movement Emerges


• As the casualties increased, Americans, especially college students, began to publicly protest the war.

(pages 785–787)(pages 785–787)

An Antiwar Movement Emerges


• In March 1965, faculty and students at the University of Michigan abandoned their classes and formed a teach-in where they informally discussed issues of the war and why they opposed it.

• This triggered teach-ins at many college campuses.

(pages 785–787)(pages 785–787)

The Peace Symbol This familiar symbol of the 1960s was originally designed to stand for the fight for nuclear disarmament. Created by British artist Gerald Holtom in 1958, the symbol was first used at a British demonstration against a research center for the development of nuclear weapons. It combined the semaphore for the letters “N” and “D,” standing for nuclear disarmament. Semaphore is a system of visual signaling using two flags, one held in each hand. N is two flags held in an upside down V, and D is one flag pointed straight up and the other pointed straight down.

• Young protestors focused their attention on what they felt was an unfair draft system.


An Antiwar Movement Emerges(cont.)

(pages 785–787)(pages 785–787)

• While college students could delay military service until graduation, those with low-income and limited education were called to serve.

• As a result, minorities, especially African Americans, were called to war.



(pages 785–787)(pages 785–787)

• Many draftees refused to serve.

• Others moved to Canada and other nations.



(pages 785–787)(pages 785–787)

Although he was a veteran of the United States Navy, on his second day in office in January 1977, President Jimmy Carter granted a pardon to all of those that fled or did not report for service during the Vietnam War.

“Amnesty for Draft Dodgers”

• The government attempted to address the draft issue by putting in a lottery system in 1969.

• They also removed many of the previous draft deferments.



(pages 785–787)(pages 785–787)

• Due to the debate on the Vietnam draft, the minimum voting age was lowered to 18 years old as a result of the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.



(pages 785–787)(pages 785–787)

• By 1968 the nation seemed divided into two camps–the doves and the hawks.

• The doves wanted the United States to withdraw from the war, and the hawks felt the United States should stay and fight.



(pages 785–787)(pages 785–787)

Ch 25 Sec 3.1 Review

“I am not going to be the first U.S. President to lose a war.”

- Lyndon Johnson

1968: The Pivotal Year


• On January 30, 1968, during Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, the Vietcong and North Vietnamese launched a surprise attack known as the Tet offensive.

(pages 787–789)(pages 787–789)

1968: The Pivotal Year


• In the attack, guerrilla fighters hit American airbases in South Vietnam as well as the South’s major cities and provincial capitals.

(pages 787–789)(pages 787–789)

• Militarily, the Tet offensive was a disaster for the Communists, but it was a political victory that shocked Americans.

1968: The Pivotal Year (cont.)


(pages 787–789)(pages 787–789)

“To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past…. But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.”

Walter Cronkite CBS Evening News Anchor

February 27th, 1968

This feature is found on pages 730–731 of your textbook. Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

This feature is found on pages 730–731 of your textbook. Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

• As a result, the approval rating for the president plummeted.



(pages 787–789)(pages 787–789)

The Tet offensive caught the United States military completely off guard. In the words of a West Point textbook published after the war, Tet was an “intelligence failure ranking with Pearl Harbor.”

Saigon = Pearl Harbor?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f9/EmbTet.jpg

• Eugene McCarthy and Senator Robert Kennedy entered the 1968 presidential race as “dove” candidates for the Democratic nomination.



(pages 787–789)(pages 787–789)

• Johnson withdrew from the presidential race, announcing his decision in an address to the nation on March 31, 1968.



(pages 787–789)(pages 787–789)

• In April Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated.



(pages 787–789)(pages 787–789)

Ch 25 Sec 3 Review

End of Chapter Summary

getting to california ____________ - faced by the johnson administration as they continued to say...

Documents

vietnam war draft

south vietnam

mouse button

space bar

numerous americans

american public

growing credibility

public support