1968

New Hampshire Democratic Party primary = held in March

Eugene McCarthy, an opponent of the Vietnam War, almost upset the current president, Lyndon Johnson

Robert Kennedy then decided to enter the raceThe Democratic Party was dividedThe New Hampshire primary, along with demonstrations

against the Vietnam War, convinced President Johnson not to run for re-election, which he told a stunned nation in a televised address on March 31

Vice-president Hubert Humphrey then entered the race in April

Democratic Antiwar candidate Eugene McCarthy

April 4, 1968 / King’s assassination

MLK was assassinated in Memphis, TNThe assassin: white supremacist James Earl Ray

Set off a series of race riotsChicago, Detroit, BaltimoreMost notably in Washington, D.C.

June 5, 1968 / Robert Kennedy’s assassination

Robert Kennedy won the California Democratic Primary

Robert Kennedy was assassinated in the Ambassador Hotel kitchen Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian immigrant, was the

accused assassin---upset with Kennedy’s support of Israel

Effect of Robert Kennedy’s assassination on the 1968 election

People who supported Robert Kennedy due to his antiwar views were upset

Several months later, angry antiwar protesters caused chaos at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, contributing to defeat for the Democratic Party in 1968

Democratic National Convention Aug. 26-29, 1968 in Chicago

• The chaos and violence of 1968 climaxed in August, when thousands of antiwar demonstrators converged on Chicago to protest at the Democratic National Convention.

• With President Johnson stepping down and Robert Kennedy dead, the 1968 presidential primary pitted Eugene McCarthy against Hubert Humphrey, Johnson’s vice-president.

1968 Democratic National Convention, continued

As the delegates to the convention arrived in Chicago, so too did the antiwar protesters who sought to pressure the Democrats into adopting an antiwar platform.

Yippies (members of the Youth International Party) came hoping to provoke violence that might discredit the Democratic Party. (They got their wish.)

1968 Democratic National Convention (continued)

Chicago’s mayor, Richard Daley, was determined to keep the protesters under control, and he mobilized thousands of Chicago police officers along with National Guardsmen.

Order collapsed, however. On Aug. 26, students in Grant Park climbed a statue and waved Vietcong flags. Police clashed with the protesters and cleared the area.

1968 Democratic National Convention (continued)

On Aug. 28, as delegates to the convention cast votes for Humphrey, protesters were ordered to clear the streets. In what was later called a “police riot,” demonstrators and bystanders, including some media people, were clubbed, beaten, Maced, and arrested. Some fought back, and the attack escalated. The melee lasted for 17 minutes and was filmed live by TV crews stationed at the Hilton Hotel. The crowd chanted, “The whole world is watching!”

1968 Democratic National Convention (continued)

Televised police riot in front of Chicago’s Hilton Hotel

The crowd chanted, “The whole world is watching!”

1968 Democratic National Convention (continued)

Pictures

1968 Democratic Convention (continued)

Disorder of a different kind reigned inside the convention hall, where delegates bitterly debated an antiwar plank in the party platform (it didn’t pass). When word of the riots filtered into the hall, delegates angrily shouted at Mayor Daley, who returned their shouts with equal vigor, and this was seen on TV as well.

The images of the Democrats—both inside and outside the convention hall—as a party of disorder became etched into the minds of millions of Americans.

Republican National Convention August 5-8, 1968 in Miami

• Richard Nixon entered the Republican convention as the front-runner. He won the nomination on the first ballot. – In his acceptance speech he stated:" When the strongest

nation in the world can be tied down for four years in a war in Vietnam with no end in sight, when the richest nation in the world cannot manage its economy, when the nation with the greatest tradition of the rule of law is plagued by unprecedented racial violence, when the President of the United States cannot travel abroad, or to any major city at home, then it is time for new leadership for the United States."

Republican National Convention (continued)

Nixon emphasized “law & order” in the campaign and in his administration to win support from conservatives and to discredit the Democrats; he appealed to what he called the “silent majority.”

Election of 1968

• Candidates• Republican – Richard Nixon• Democrat – Hubert Humphrey• Independent – George Wallace

• Nixon promised to end the war• Wallace promised to return segregation• Humphrey ran as a supporter of continuing

the war• Nixon won by using the “Solid Democratic

South” against the Democrats, ending the New Deal coalition

The Antiwar Movement

Reasons people opposed the war: a) The conflict in Vietnam was a civil war and the U.S. had no business there; b) The war was morally unjust; c) The war cost too much and took away from the Great Society programs; d) Many people opposed the draft; e) People believed the Johnson administration was lying about the war---called the “credibility gap.”

Doves: opponents of the warHawks: supporters of the war

1968 presidential election results

Popular vote and Electoral College vote

Tactics of the Antiwar Movement

Used marches, “teach-ins,” burned down buildings, supported antiwar candidates, burned draft cards, wrote & listened to protest music (picture: Columbia University)

Early Protests / “New Left”

“New Left” = growing youth movement of the 1960s whose followers demanded sweeping changes in American society

Groups like the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and the FSM (Free Speech Movement) wanted sweeping changes in American society, including greater individual freedom, and after the U.S. became involved in the Vietnam War, they demanded an end to the war

Early Protests (continued)

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS): founded in 1960 by Tom Hayden at the University of Michigan

Port Huron Statement (1962): manifesto of the SDS; said the students became activists due to race problems and the threat of nuclear war; called for a restoration of “participatory democracy” and greater individual freedom

Early Protests (continued)

Free Speech Movement (FSM): gained prominence in 1964 at the University of California at Berkeley; grew out of a clash between students and administrators over free speech on campus

Kent State in Ohio / May 4, 1970

Background: In April 1970 President Nixon widened the Vietnam War by sending U.S. troops into Cambodia to clear out North Vietnamese and Vietcong supply centers

In response, college students across the country protested; in what became the first general student strike in U.S. history, more than 1.5 million students closed down about 1,200 college campuses

Kent State (continued)

At Kent State, students burned down the ROTC building, and the National Guard was called in

On May 4, 1970, the Guards fired into a crowd of campus protesters who were hurling rocks at them, wounding 9 and killing 4

Ten days later, similar violence rocked the all-black college of Jackson State in Mississippi

Kent State (continued)

The shootings were hotly debated in the U.S., showing how divided the nation was over the Vietnam War.

A student photographer at Kent State took the following Pulitzer-Prize winning photograph: