Vietnam Divides the Nation

Ch 17.3

Friday, May 25, 2012

• Daily goals:• What was the credibility gap?• How did the Tet Offensive and Teach-ins

divide the nation?• What was unfair about the draft system?• Identify the Hawks and Doves.• Why didn’t Johnson run for re-election in 1968

and what did Nixon promise America?

Faces of the growing Credibility Gap

The Credibility Gap

• Americans found it hard to believe the Johnson administration and the government because of conflicting news on Vietnam.

6

Examples of anti-war posters from the 1960’s

The Anti-War Movement

• Across the nation’s Universities the teach-ins began where people discussed their opposition to the war.

11

Anger at the Draft

• College students could defer military service until after graduation, which lead to a disproportionate amount of low-income kids were sent to fight.

• By 1968, African Americans were twice as likely to die in Vietnam.

14

Tet Offensive 1967-1968The Tet Offensive of 1968 was planned by

General Giap, commander of the North Vietnam Army, who had planned and executed the battle at Dien Bien Phu which drove the French out of

Vietnam in 1954. During that battle Giap was willing to lose 10 men for every 1 enemy soldier

killed. By the end of 1966, North Vietnam had suffered

large causalities in manpower and supplies through the bombing of the North and the

fighting in the South. They consider the war was at a stalemate. North Vietnam would need a

major victory if they would continue on with the war.

The primary goals of Giap were to destabilize the Saigon regime and to force the United States

to opt for a negotiated settlement.

15

TET Offensive

Westmoreland interview during TET fighting

Tet Offensive

• The North Vietnamese staged a massive coordinated attack on all the major cities in South Vietnam

• It was a major political victory for the North Vietnamese and Americans began to doubt that the War could be won.

• The media began to openly criticize the war.

17

LBJ announced he would not run for president again in 1968

President Johnson

• After the Tet Offensive the President’s Credibility Gap only grew wider.

• LBJ’s popularity hit a low and he announced he would not run for re-election in 1968.

Nixon Wins the Presidency

• Nixon promised to unify the nation and “restore law and order.”

• Nixon also declared that he has a secret plan to end the Vietnam War.