-1968-

The Dividing Line

JANUARY 31: TET OFFENSIVE•Massive surprise attack launched by the Vietminh/Vietcong

•Tet is the biggest holiday of the year in Vietnam

•Military loss for the Vietnamese, but a political victory

•Tens of thousands of VC killed

•But American public saw the Vietcong’s determination and realized the war wouldn’t be over soon

•For example, The North Vietnamese briefly occupied the American Embassy in Saigon. •Doesn’t really look like they are about to give up.•The visual images of the embassy under attack that were repeatedly played on television stations across the nation forever changed American public opinion on the Vietnam conflict – over half of all Americans now disapproved of American involvement in ‘Nam

MARCH 16: MY LAI MASSACRE

American soldiers entered the village of My Lai where

there were reportedly hundreds of Vietcong being

sheltered. Soldiers discovered women, children,

and old men instead. However, the Americans opened fire anyways and

more than 400 Vietnamese were killed. Americans at

home watched in horror as the massacre unfolded.

MARCH 31: President Johnson’s Press Conference

After viewing Walter Cronkite, America’s favorite newsman, state

his disapproval of American involvement in Vietnam, Johnson

stated to his aides, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost the American

people.” With only a 35% approval rating by the American public, mounting racial tension and

increasing protests about the Vietnam Conflict, Johnson made a shocking revelation to the world in an unplanned televised speech…

APRIL 4: Martin Luther King, Jr Assassinated

When news of MLK’s assassination hit the television and radio waves, the nation’s

cities erupted in riots. King’s assassination became an incendiary

device within America’s inner cities.

APRIL 30: Columbia University Protests

SDS protests against the relationship between the Department of Defense

and Columbia University. The protests began in April 1967 and ended violently in April 1968.

Perhaps the most violent University protest, over

150 students were injured and over 700

protestors were arrested.

Robert F. Kennedy was campaigning in Los Angeles

for the Democratic nomination for the upcoming presidential election. He had just won the California primary (as an anti-

war candidate!) and was preparing to return to his hotel room to celebrate his victory.

As he left the lobby of the hotel, Los Angeles news

reporter, Andrew West, began to interview Kennedy…

June 4: Robert F. Kennedy

Assassinated

MLK Grave RFK Grave

AUGUST: Chicago Democratic Convention

Several thousand demonstrators arrived in

Chicago to support candidate Eugene McCarthy (anti-war

candidate) and protest other Democratic candidates. On

August 25th a police riot broke out as police attacked crowds with tear gas and clubs. This bloodshed was brought into

American homes via televisions, dramatizing the reality of a nation divided

against itself.

NOVEMBER 1968: Nixon Elected

By appealing to the “silent majority,” southerners who were angered by Civil Rights legislation passed by previous Democrat Presidents, and many Americans disgusted by the violence at the Democratic national convention, Republican Richard Nixon was elected to the Presidency in November 1968. His election signaled an era of Republican domination in the nation’s capital.