B/C missions were designed to demoralize not destroy, the enemy often had time to recover and infiltrate the South
Pressed to Negotiate by NATO Allies
We will not be defeated. We will not grow tired. We will not withdraw, either openly or under the cloak of a meaningless agreement.
The central lesson of the 20th century, he proclaimed…
1965- 125,000 Soldiers
Johnson was following the policies of Containment examples of Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy, but “times they are a changin’.”
“Well, I know we oughtn't to be there, but I can’t out. I just can’t be the architect of surrender. And don’t see… I’m trying every way in the world I can to find a way to”
Walter Lippman
“America can exert its greatest influence in the outer world by demonstrating at home that the largest and most complex..”
Senate “Doves” Protest War
Winning the War Attrition
LBJ used carefully gathered statistics to show that we were wearing down the enemy
He argued, the overwhelming application of American power was having a cumulative effect that would, in time, bring Hanoi and the VC to their knees
General Westmoreland
“Military victory was the only way out”
Proving Westmoreland Wrong- The TET OFFENSIVE of 1968
In January of 1968, the VC launched a surprise attack on all American positions.
This displayed that the VC and Hanoi were vital and nowhere near surrender
This also changed how many people and soldiers viewed the war.
‘You Say You Want a Revolution”
Students at Columbia University protest against the college’s connection to the war’s think-tanks and the racist actions of the college in destroying a park in Harlem to build a new building. The students protests led to the taking over of 5 University buildings.
Anti-war protestors are beaten by police outside the Chicago Democratic Convention in 1968
On May 17, 1968, nine men and women entered the Selective Service Offices in Catonsville, Maryland, removed several hundred draft records, and burned them with homemade napalm in protest
The Most Trusted New Anchor in the Country Travels to Vietnam and returns with the opinion that we cannot win this war. “It seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to the end.”
“That’s it. If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost middle America.”
On Sunday evening, March 331, 1968 Johnson announced on national television that he was stopping the bombing in North Vietnam. To everyone’s astonishment, he then withdrew from the presidential race.
RFK Dies, and Hope Dies with Him!
For many members of the Counterculture, Anti-war Movement, & the Civil Rights Movement the death of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 symbolized the end of hopes for change. Many did not turn out to vote in the ‘68 election.