Doubt Grows• Congress now began to question what LBJ’s administration

was reporting• Communities wanted their boys back• Men began draft-protesting• Quickly it will evolve into this:

• Check out this old-timey 1967 “breaking news” bulletin (nat’l archives) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBZpENDHYxE

1st Draft Card Burning: 10/16/65: In a demonstration staged by the student-run National Coordinating Committee to End

the War in Vietnam, the first public burning of a draft card takes place.100,000 people in 40 cities across the country arrived in New York, David Miller, a

young Catholic pacifist, became the first U.S. war protestor to burn his draft card in direct violation of a recently passed law forbidding such acts. Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation later arrested him; he was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to

two years imprisonment.

Teach-Ins: an extended meeting/class held to discuss a social/political issue

What do we do when something happens to a student or community member? What about lockdowns & shelter-in-place drills?

March 1965: University of Michigan- teachers & students abandon their classes to talk about the war & why they oppose/support the idea of it.

By May, 122 colleges nationally begin to do the same thing.

Reasons for Opposing the War:• Civil war the U.S. had no

place in• S. Vietnam seen as a corrupt

dictatorship & defending them in any way was immoral

• Anger at the draft– Sometimes, college students

could defer serving until graduating

– This targeted poor men who couldn’t afford college

– Many minorities served & died

“Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and

brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid

waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for

the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and

death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation.

The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours.” - MLK 1967

The War Begins to Escalate• Draft calls now increased & all

men were at risk• 50,000 men refused to go or

didn’t report– 1965-68 = 3,000+ men

persecuted for refusing• Prison was a welcomed

alternative• Some moved to Canada or

Sweden• Many publically burned draft

cards

1971: voting age is now nationally set at 18

(vs. by state)

“So, I can kill a man but I can’t enjoy a beer or properly leave

education behind? If I’m old enough to fight… then I’m

old enough to vote”

One of the Most Famous Images in U.S. History:

An Unexpected Poll Result: 1967Although antiwar protesting became HUGE, this didn’t represent majority opinion.

68% of respondents favored continuing the war32% wanted to end it

Many criticized the 32% for a lack of patriotismQuestions YOU should be wondering: who took the poll & is this a lack of patriotism if

it’s not an attack on our country? What do you think?

• By 1968 the nation seems to be divided• Doves: those who wanted the U.S. to withdraw

from Vietnam• Hawks: those who insisted the U.S. stay & fight• Which would YOU be? Why? Let’s take a tally!

The Turning Point: 1968 THE TET OFFENSIVE

• January 30, 1968• Tet is taking place (Vietnamese New Year)• Vietcong & the North Vietnamese (NVA) launch a MASSIVE

surprise attack• Tet Offensive: guerrilla fighters attacked almost all U.S.

airbases in S. Vietnam & most of the South’s major cities/capitals

Tet Offensive Cont’d…• Bloodiest battle: Hue, S.

Vietnam’s 3rd largest city• It took 4 weeks to drive out the

Communists• U.S. troops found mass graves of

massacred:– political/religious leaders– Foreigners & visitors– Teachers & doctors– 3,000 bodies found– Thousands more remained missing

• People start to dislike LBJ (finally!)• His approval rating drops to a 35%; war approval = 26%• LBJ recognizes this & decides to NOT run for president in

the 1968 elections

“It seems more certain than ever that the

bloody experience in Vietnam is to end in a stalemate” – Walter Cronkite

Nixon(R) Wins the Presidency for 3 Main Reasons:

1. People associated turmoil with Democratic party (Riots at Dem. Convention; (D) candidate Robert Kennedy assassinated by Arab Nationalist Sirhan Sirhan!2. Nixon promised to unify the nation & restore order3. He said he had a plan to “end the war” (with no details… but this provided hope to skeptics)