The War Divides America

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ᮤ A Vietnam veteran protests the war in 1970.

WITNESS HISTORY AUDIO Step-by-Step The “Living-Room War”

SECTION Instruction Walter Cronkite, the anchor of the CBS Evening News, 3 was the most respected television journalist of the 1960s. His many reports on the Vietnam War were SECTION 3 models of balanced journalism and inspired the Objectives confidence of viewers across the United States. But during the Tet Offensive, Cronkite was shocked by the As you teach this section, keep students disconnect between Johnson’s optimistic statements focused on the following objectives to help and the gritty reality of the fighting. After visiting them answer the Section Focus Question and Vietnam in February of 1968, he told his viewers: master core content. “We have been too often disappointed by the • Describe the divisions within American optimism of the American leaders, both in Vietnam society over the Vietnam War. and Washington, to have faith any longer in the silverlinings they find in the darkest clouds.... [I]t • Analyze the Tet Offensive and the seems now more certain than ever that the bloody American reaction to it. experience of Vietnam is to end in stalemate.” • Summarize the factors that influenced the —Walter Cronkite, 1968 outcome of the 1968 presidential election.

ᮡ Walter Cronkite The War Divides America Prepare to Read Objectives Why It Matters President Johnson sent more American troops • Describe the divisions within American society to Vietnam in order to win the war. But with each passing year, over the Vietnam War. casualty lists got longer and victory seemed further away. As sol- Background Knowledge L3 diers died abroad and hawks and doves argued at home, the Viet- • Analyze the Tet Offensive and the American nam War opened up a deep emotional rift in American society. After Remind students that the Vietnam reaction to it. War was weakening the U.S. economy the war ended, it would take years for the country to heal itself. and dividing Americans. Ask students • Summarize the factors that influenced the Section Focus Question: How did the American war effort in Vietnam lead to predict how the Vietnam War would outcome of the 1968 presidential election. to rising protests and social divisions back home? cause further rifts in American society. Terms and People draftee Tet Offensive Antiwar Protests Increase Set a Purpose L3 SDS Eugene McCarthy The war in Vietnam divided Americans more deeply than any ½ WITNESS HISTORY Read the selec- “credibility gap” Robert Kennedy conflict since the Civil War. Although most Americans initially sup- tion aloud, or play the audio. ported President Johnson’s bombings and troop deployments, by 1966 critics began speaking out. Senator Fulbright’s opposition to Witness History Audio CD, the war hurt Johnson in Congress, and the senator was soon joined The “Living-Room War” by like-minded activists who believed that American soldiers were Ask What is Cronkite’s criticism dying in a war that had little to do with American interests.

of American leaders’ optimism? The Draft Becomes Increasingly Unpopular By 1965, most of Reading Skill: Recognize Sequence Note (It is not based on what is really the troops sent to Vietnam were no longer volunteers who had enlisted the events leading up to the 1968 election. going on Vietnam.) What is the in the army. Instead, they were draftees—young men drafted into mili- basis of his view of the war? (his tary service—who had been assigned a tour in Vietnam. In accordance own visit to Vietnam) with the Selective Service Act of 1948, the government drafted more ½ Focus Point out the Section Focus than 1.5 million men into military service during the Vietnam War. All males had to register for the draft when they turned 18, and the Selec- Question, and write it on the board. Richard Nixon becomes President. tive Service System called up draftees based on projected military needs. Tell students to refer to this question as they read. (Answer appears with Section 3 Assessment answers.) ½ Preview Have students preview the Section Objectives and the list of Use the information below and the following resource to teach students the high-use words Terms and People. from this section. Teaching Resources, Vocabulary Builder, p. 11 ½ Reading Skill Have students use High-Use Word Definition and Sample Sentence the Reading Strategy: Recognize Sequence worksheet. Teaching deferment n. postponement Resources, p. 12 The deferment of aid left many people without needed supplies. ½ Using the Paragraph inevitable adj. certain to happen

Shrinking strategy (TE, p. T20), Casualties are inevitable in war. have students read this section. As they read, have students fill in the flowchart sequencing the events leading up to the 1968 election. Reading and Note Taking Study Guide 656 The Vietnam War Era hsus_te_ch16_s03_s.fm Page 657 Friday, December 5, 2008 8:11 PM

Critics of the Selective Service System argued that the draft was not fair. The system gave local draft boards considerable influence in selecting men for ser- Vocabulary Builder vice, and it also granted deferments to college students and men who worked in deferment–(dee FER muhnt) n. Teach

certain designated occupations. Most of the 2.5 million men who served in Viet- postponement nam came from working-class and poor backgrounds. Antiwar Protests During the Johnson presidency, the number of African American troops fighting and dying in Vietnam was also disproportionately high. At the beginning of Increase L3 the war, African Americans suffered more than 20 percent of the total combat deaths, roughly twice their percentage of the U.S. population. Additionally, Afri- Instruct can American soldiers were more likely to serve in combat positions and less ½ Introduce: Key Term Ask likely to become commissioned officers. students to find the key term Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke out against the added war “credibility gap” (in bold) in the burden shouldered by African American soldiers. Speaking at a New York text. Then, write the term on the church in 1967, King said that the war was hurting both poor blacks and whites. board and provide the definition. Vietnam was drawing human and economic resources away from America’s Point out that many Americans other wars on poverty and discrimination. He added that it hindered poor Amer- icans in other more direct ways: began to distrust government statements about the war as they “It was sending their sons and their brothers and their discovered that the government’s

husbands to fight and to die in extraordinary high proportions relative to the rest of optimism did not reflect what was the population.... [W]e have been repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching African American Soldiers really happening in Vietnam. in Battle Negro and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has ½ been unable to seat them together in the same schools. The Vietnam War witnessed the Teach Discuss why many Ameri- ” highest proportion of African —Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967 cans opposed the war and how they Americans ever to serve in an showed their opposition. Ask Why Perceived inequities in the draft led to widespread resistance. Antiwar advo- American war. Here, an African did some people think the draft cates sponsored a Stop-the-Draft week in October 1967, and some draft-eligible American Marine ducks behind a wall was unfair? (Most of the draftees males burned their draft cards in protest. Finally, in 1969, the Selective Service for cover while firing on an enemy came from poor and working-class System adopted a lottery that was designed to eliminate deferment abuses and position. Based on the line graph, backgrounds, and many were Afri- create a more diverse army of draftees. why might African American recruits be unhappy with the draft? can Americans.) What form did antiwar protests take on college campuses? (rallies, demonstrations, petitions against the draft, teach-ins) What issue led to a clash between students and authorities at Berkeley? (free speech) How did television contribute to African Americans opposition to the war? (Television and the Vietnam War gave people easy access to war news 25 and images; TV reports and images 20 clashed with government state- 15 ments.) Discuss the ways that U.S. 10 citizens at home responded differ- 5 ently to World War II and to the Percentage of Percentage

African Americans 0 Vietnam War and what caused the 1961–1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 different responses. African American combat deaths (U.S. Army) ½ Quick Activity Display Color African Americans in U.S. population Transparency: Conflict on the Home SOURCES: Department of Defense; Historical Statistics of the United States Front. Use the lesson suggested in the transparency book to guide discussion about support of and opposition to the Vietnam War. Color Transparencies A-126

L4 Advanced Readers L4 Gifted and Talented Students

Remind students that the U.S. armed forces were not dents to use their findings to write scripts for news integrated until after World War II ended. Have stu- reports that trace the history of the integration dents research the integration of the U.S. armed of African Americans into the U.S. armed forces forces. As part of their research, suggest that stu- between World War II and the Vietnam War. Be dents collect data about African American participa- sure that students include their bar graphs in their tion in the U.S. Army during World War II and the reports. Invite volunteers to present their news Answer Vietnam War to display in a bar graph. Then, ask stu- reports to the class. Caption The number of African Americans fighting and dying in Vietnam was disproportionately high compared with their represen- tation in the U.S. population. Chapter 20 Section 3 657 hsus_te_ch16_s03_s.fm Page 658 Friday, December 5, 2008 8:11 PM

Activism Spreads on College Campuses Across America, college cam- Independent Practice puses became centers of antiwar sentiment. Professors and students criticized ½ Have students read the Primary the war for a variety of reasons, ranging from pacifism and the war’s effects on Source quotation from Martin the economy to a personal desire to avoid military service. Antiwar activity on Luther King, Jr., and examine the college campuses did not, however, reflect the attitudes of Americans as a photograph of the African American whole. In fact, many professors remained vocal in their defense of the war effort soldier and the graph on the previous during lectures and at protest rallies. For the most part, though, colleges and page. Ask students to write brief para- universities represented the extreme antiwar opinion. graphs describing what King found Antiwar activities were part of more significant changes taking place on col- ironic about U.S. combat in Vietnam lege campuses. Never before the 1960s had so many Americans entered colleges and how the photograph and the and universities. Between 1946 and 1970, the number of students enrolled in graph support King’s opinion. institutions of higher education increased from 2 million to 8 million. Many college students became a class unto themselves—segregated from the workforce, ½ Ask students to examine the photo- free from many adult responsibilities, and encouraged by their professors to graph of the Vietnam War support- think critically. Most of the students who embraced the antiwar cause came ers on this page. Have students use from upper-middle-class families. Students from working-class families were information from the text to write less likely to protest against the war. letters to the editor telling whether The University of Michigan and the University of California at Berkeley became they support or oppose the union important hubs of the antiwar movement. The Students for a Democratic Society members in the photograph and (SDS) was founded in 1960 at the University of Michigan. Originally formed to cam- explaining their reasons for their paign against racism and poverty, the SDS soon began campaigning to end the war support or opposition. in Vietnam. By 1964, SDS had organized campus “teach-ins” and demonstrations against the war and encouraged draft-age males to sign “We Won’t Go” petitions. Monitor Progress Students Clash With Authorities Student activism led to a clash with As students fill in their flowcharts, circu- administrators and police in 1964. Students at the University of California at late to make sure that they understand Hawks Respond to Protests Berkeley protested against the school’s decision not to allow them to use univer- the events that led to the 1968 election. Despite doves’ vocal opposition to the sity grounds to organize off-campus political activities. The students formed the For a completed version of the flowchart, war, hawks organized their own Free Speech Movement to contest the decision. When protesters occupied a uni- demonstrations to support U.S. policy see Note Taking Transparencies, B-135. versity building, the police arrested them. In response, students cut classes to in Vietnam. Below, New York City march in support of the FSM. University officials eventually relented and allowed union members rally behind the students to engage in free speech activities on school grounds. The victory by American war effort in 1967. students at Berkeley led to challenges at other colleges and universities.

More and More Americans Oppose the War Outside college campuses, other Americans soon enlisted in the antiwar cause. The war in Vietnam was the first “living-room war.” Americans watched the progress—or lack of it—in their living rooms on nightly newscasts. The intimacy of television made news of the war unavoidable. But unlike World War II, there was no march to victory. Americans could not put maps of Vietnam on their walls and trace the routes the troops were taking to Hanoi. Hawks and doves drifted farther apart. More groups organized against the war, their names corresponding with whom they represented—Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Catholic Peace Fellowship, Another Mother for Peace. Antiwar Americans— rich and poor, black and white—read reports from war corre- spondents who questioned U.S. progress in Vietnam. They watched government officials issue optimistic statement after optimistic statement. Soon, a “credibility gap” emerged between what the Johnson administration said and what many journal- ists reported. This gap referred to the American public’s growing distrust of statements made by the government. Why did the antiwar movement grow across the nation?

L1 Special Needs Students L2 English Language Learners L2 Less Proficient Readers

Pair struggling readers with more advanced learners. increased (Sample answers: Selective Service System Have each pair scan the text under the blue heading Unfair, Lottery Will Decide Who Goes to War). “Antiwar Protests Increase” and list reasons that Remind students that newspaper headlines should many Americans opposed the Vietnam War. Then, be short but informative. Then, have students read Answer have pairs scan the text and list ways that Americans their headlines to the class and explain how the showed their opposition to the war. Have partners headline relates to the increase in antiwar protests in Numbers of casualties continued to use their lists to write three to five newspaper head- the United States. increase as victory seemed farther away. lines that summarize how and why antiwar protests Many people no longer believed that the government was telling the truth about progress in the war. 658 The Vietnam War Era hsus_te_ch16_s03_s.fm Page 659 Friday, December 5, 2008 8:11 PM

For: Interactive map Tet Offensive Is Tet Offensive, 1968 Web Code: nep-1605 Tet Offensive Is the the Turning Point CHINA In November 1967, President Johnson Turning Point L3 brought General Westmoreland home from NORTH VIETNAM Vietnam to address the nation’s concerns Instruct Hanoi about the war. Westmoreland said that the Gulf of ½ Introduce: Key Term Ask stu- Tonkin Vietcong were declining in strength and could 20° N dents to find the key term Tet no longer mount a major offensive. As West- LAOS Offensive (in bold) in the text. moreland made his claims, however, the Note that General Westmoreland Mekon North Vietnamese and Vietcong were plan- g R . reported to President Johnson in

ning just such an attack. late 1967 that the Vietcong did not South China have the strength to launch a major Communist Assault Shocks Americans January–June 1968 In early 1968, U.S. officials anticipated a com- Battle of Khe Sanh Sea attack. The Tet Offensive proved munist offensive. As expected, on January 21, Westmoreland wrong. Ask students THAILAND the North Vietnamese Army hit Khe Sanh in 15° N to predict how the offensive would northwest South Vietnam. However, nine days affect U.S. goals in the war. later, the communists expanded their attack by ½ Teach Using the Think-Write-Pair- hitting U.S. and ARVN positions throughout N CAMBODIA Share strategy (TE, p. T23), have South Vietnam. The Tet Offensive—named W E after the Vietnamese lunar new year—was a students discuss how the commu- S coordinated assault on 36 provincial capitals Gulf of SOUTH nists carried out the Tet Offensive in VIETNAM and 5 major cities, as well as the U.S. embassy Thailand 1968 and why the attacks shocked in Saigon. January 31,1968 American U.S. officials. Ask What did embassy attacked Saigon Attack during10° Tet N Defense Secretary Clifford rec- The communists planned to take and hold Offensive the cities until the urban population took up Miller Projection Ho Chi Minh Trail ommend after the Tet Offensive? 0100 200 mi arms in their support. They thought the Tet (pursuing a negotiated peace instead Offensivehad a good chance of ending the 0100 200 km 105° E 110° E of victory) How was the Tet Offen- war. The fighting was fierce, but in the end, Map Skills In launching the Tet Offensive, the Vietcong and sive a turning point in the war? American and South Vietnamese forces North Vietnamese Army wanted to demoralize South Vietnam (The Tet Offensive demonstrated that repelled the offensive and there was no popu- and deal American forces a devastating blow. the Vietcong were capable of mount- lar uprising against the government of South 1. Regions Identify two regions of South Vietnam that were ing a large-scale attack and that they Vietnam. Although U.S. forces won a tactical hard-hit by the Tet Offensive. had not lost the will to fight. It also victory by preventing the Vietcong and North 2. Draw Conclusions How do you think the Tet Offensive caused the United States to change Vietnamese Army from achieving their pri- affected the morale of North Vietnam? Explain. its strategy to end the war from fight- mary objectives, the Tet Offensive was a stra- ing for victory to pursuing a negoti- tegic blow to the Americans. It demonstrated ated peace. Many Americans began that the communists had not lost the will or to dramatically oppose the war.) How the ability to fight on. did the Tet Offensive influence War’s End Is Nowhere in Sight After the Tet Offensive, American military the political process in the leaders seemed less confident of a quick end to the war. When Westmoreland United States? (It led to Johnson’s requested more troops, President Johnson asked his new Secretary of Defense decision not to run for a second Clark Clifford to take an objective look at the military and political situation in term.) Vietnam. The deeper Clifford delved into the matter, the more pessimistic he Vocabulary Builder ½ Quick Activity Have students became. Sending more troops would inevitably require raising taxes, increasing inevitable–(ihn EHV ih tuh buhl) access Web Code nep-1605 to use adj. certain to happen draft rolls, and calling up reserves. It would lead to increased casualties in the the Geography Interactive map field and dissent at home. And it still might not lead to victory. Clifford con- and then answer the map skills cluded that the President should radically shift U.S. policy from one that pur- questions in the text. sued victory to one that pursued a negotiated peace.

Johnson Steps Down While Clifford deliberated, many Americans began to turn dramatically against the war. Some marched in protest and engaged in antiwar activities. Others registered their disapproval at the polls. In early

Answers A Turning Point Despite huge casualties, the Tet When General Westmoreland requested Offensive turned the tide for North Vietnam. Commu- 206,000 additional troops, Johnson refused and Map Skills nist forces attacked some 100 cities and military declared that bombing north of the 20th parallel 1. the northeastern coast and the extreme bases, including the embassy in Saigon. The battle would cease. This decision opened the way for nego- south in and around Saigon convinced the American public that the war could not tiations with Hanoi. By October 1968, peace talks 2. The morale of North Vietnam may have continue at current levels. Soon after, President John- were underway, although it would be five more years declined right after the offensive because son announced that he would not run for reelection. before a cease-fire would be achieved. the communist forces were repelled, and no popular uprising against the government of South Vietnam took place; however, when the North Vietnamese learned that the United States was not going to pursue victory but negotiate for peace, their morale may have improved. Chapter 20 Section 3 659 hsus_te_ch16_s03_s.fm Page 660 Friday, December 5, 2008 8:11 PM

Independent Practice Can the United States Win the War in Vietnam? ½ Have students read Comparing Viewpoints feature and answer the Despite the war’s growing unpopularity, Johnson was reluctant to withdraw from Vietnam. Some urged questions that accompany it. him to get out of “Kennedy’s war.” His own Cabinet was divided on the issue. ½ To increase understanding of the dif- DEAN RUSK GEORGE BALL ferences of opinion concerning U.S. Citing Chamberlain and Hitler as an Undersecretary of State Ball urged involvement in Vietnam, have stu- example, Secretary of State Rusk opposed President Johnson in 1965 to stop dents read Viewpoints: Can the appeasement. He supported increased bomb- sending U.S. soldiers to Vietnam. United States Win the War in Viet- ing and troops to force North Vietnam to nam? and complete the worksheet. negotiate a peace. Teaching Resources, p. 22 “No one can assure you that we can

beat the Viet Cong . . . no matter how Monitor Progress “If . . . North Vietnam will stop [its] campaign many . . . troops we deploy. No [ground Circulate to make sure that students are to destroy the Republic of Vietnam, the mea- forces] of whatever size can win a not having difficulty completing their sures we are taking to assist South guerrilla war—which is at the same Viewpoints worksheets, and that they Vietnam . . . will no longer be necessary. . . . time a civil war . . . in jungle terrain in understand the points of view expressed We see no necessity for international the midst of a population that about whether to continue the war in negotiations. . . . [W]e cannot [think of] any refuses cooperation....” Vietnam. points that would be negotiable.” —George Ball, 1965 —Dean Rusk, 1963 Compare 1. According to Rusk, when should the United States end its participation in the war? 2. Why does Ball think that Rusk’s strategy will not work?

1968, Minnesota senator Eugene McCarthy, the antiwar candidate for the Dem- ocratic Party nomination, made a surprisingly strong showing in the New Hampshire primary. Sensing that Johnson was in a politically weakened position, New York’s Democratic senator Robert Kennedy announced his candidacy for the presidency. Both McCarthy and Kennedy believed that the war had divided America and drained resources away from the fights against poverty and discrimination. What Johnson feared most was happening: The war was undermining his presidency. On March 31, 1968, two months after the Tet Offensive, the President addressed the nation on television. He announced that America would limit its bombing of North Vietnam and seek a negotiated settlement to the war. Johnson then shocked the nation by announcing that he would not run for another term as President. The speech marked another turning point in the war. The fight for victory was over. Peace was now the official government policy. How was the Tet Offensive both a victory and a defeat for the United States?

Violence Rocks 1968 Presidential Race Johnson’s decision not to seek reelection in 1968 threw the presidential race wide open. Many Americans believed it provided an opportunity to enact funda- mental political and social changes. They argued that the future of the country Answers was at stake. It was a time of new ideas and new plans. But the optimism and high hopes of the early campaign would soon die amidst political infighting, violence, and assassination. Compare 1. when North Vietnam stops its campaign to destroy the Republic of Vietnam in the south 2. The conflict is a both a guerrilla war and a civil war, and the local population does not Decreasing Public Support In 1964, when the Today, comparisons have been drawn between the want to cooperate. U.S. Congress overwhelmingly passed the Gulf of Vietnam War and the war in Iraq. Public support for Tonkin Resolution, American public opinion was the war in Iraq started out high, just as it did for the The Tet Offensive was a victory for the largely supportive. Americans saw the Vietnam War Vietnam War. However, as the war progressed and

United States because American and as a part of the larger Cold War struggle against com- casualties mounted, support began to decline. Some South Vietnamese troops kept the munism. But the Tet Offensive in 1968 inflamed the critics claim that the mission is unclear and that Vietcong and North Vietnamese from fears of many that the government was not forthcom- American involvement in Iraq is too open-ended. The achieving their goals. It was a defeat ing about conditions in Vietnam. As the war contin- decline in support for the war in Iraq has been faster because it showed that there was no ued, public support continued to decline. Five years than it was during the Vietnam War. One reason for end to the war in sight, forcing the later, when the U.S. military involvement ended, this may be that some Americans do not consider the United States to shift its policy from many believed that the United States should have war in Iraq to be part of a larger principled conflict, fighting for victory to pursuing a negoti- withdrawn sooner. like the Vietnam War. ated peace. 660 The Vietnam War Era hsus_te_ch16_s03_s.fm Page 662 Friday, December 5, 2008 8:11 PM

Presidential Election of 1968 For: Interactive map Independent Practice Web Code: nep-1607 Have students access Web Code nep-1607 to use the Geography W NH A 4 9 VT ME Interactive map and then answer the MT ND 3 4 4 4 MN OR 10 MA map skills questions in the text. Direct 14 6 I I NY D SD W 43 4 WY 4 12 MI RI students’ attention to the map. Ask 3 21 CT 4 IA PA 8 NE 9 H 29 NJ Why does New York, a relatively NV 5 O 17 3 UT IL IN 26 E 26 13 D CA 4 CO WV A 3 small state, have more electoral 4 KS 7 V MD 0 6 MO KY 12 0 7 12 9 1 votes than Texas, a much larger NC TN 13* AZ OK 11 state? (Electoral votes are based on 5 NM 8 AR SC 4 6 8 MS AL GA population, not land size. New York has 7 10 12 LA TX 10 a larger population than Texas does.) 25 AK FL 3 14 Monitor Progress HI Circulate to make sure that students 4 understand that the map shows how Candidate (Party) Electoral Popular % Electoral % Popular U.S. citizens voted in the 1968 election. Vote Vote Vote Vote** Richard M. Nixon 301 31,710,470 56 43.6 (Republican) Hubert H. Humphrey 191 30,898,055 36 42.5 (Democratic) George C. Wallace 46 9,906,473 8 13.6 (American Independent)

* One Nixon elector voted outside the party’s endorsement Map Skills In 1968, Richard ** Minor parties received 0.3% of the popular vote Nixon defeated Vice President Hubert Humphrey and third- Two Leaders Fall In the spring and summer of the campaign season, bullets party candidate George struck down two Americans who spoke out eloquently for peace in Vietnam and Wallace, who had split from peaceful change in American society. Martin Luther King, Jr., the most promi- the Democratic Party. nent leader of the civil rights movement, had publicly turned against the war in 1. Regions From where did 1967. He contributed compelling social and moral reasons to the argument for Wallace draw most of his peace. But his voice was tragically silenced on April 4, 1968, when a racist support? assassin shot and killed him in Memphis, Tennessee. 2. Draw Conclusions What Robert Kennedy was the next leader to fall. He had based his campaign for might have happened if the presidency on compassion and idealism, and millions of Americans rallied Wallace had renounced his to his camp. On June 5, 1968, at a rally celebrating his victory in the California candidacy and rejoined the primary, Kennedy asserted that “we are a great country, an unselfish country, a Democratic ranks? compassionate country,” and that he intended “to make that the basis of my run- ning.” Minutes later, a Palestinian immigrant named Sirhan Sirhan shot Kennedy in the head, killing him instantly. Sirhan may have wanted revenge for America’s support for Israel in that country’s war with Egypt the year before.

Protesters Disrupt Chicago Democratic Convention The murders of King and Kennedy cast a dark shadow over the election campaigns. In August 1968, the Democrats convened in Chicago to choose a presidential candidate to represent their party in the November election. As the delegates arrived, so too did antiwar protesters. Chicago’s mayor deployed police and members of the National Guard to prevent any outbreaks of violence. Inside the convention, the Democrats angrily debated placing an antiwar plank in the party platform. They chose Hubert Humphrey, Johnson’s Vice President, over Eugene McCarthy, who had garnered support from many antiwar groups. As the delegates cast their votes, violence erupted outside the convention between police and protesters. After police beat activists with nightsticks, some protesters retaliated by throwing rocks and bottles at the onrushing tide of police.

L4 Advanced Readers L4 Gifted and Talented Students

Have students form small groups to create election- in their coverage of election night. Groups should Answers night newscasts, using information from the visual divide up tasks for the newscast: writing copy, on this page and from the information presented creating visuals, and reading copy. Have students Map Skills under the blue heading “Violence Rocks 1968 Presi- rehearse their broadcast and then perform it for 1. the South dential Race.” Students should include commentary the class. 2. Sample responses: The Democratic candi- on the events of 1968 in addition to election results date, Hubert Humphrey, might have become President; Nixon might have won by a greater margin because more conservative Democrats from the South might have voted Republican in the election. 662 The Vietnam War Era hsus_te_ch16_s03_s.fm Page 663 Thursday, January 15, 2009 4:18 PM

The television coverage of the fierce fighting in the streets and bitter arguments on the convention floor shocked Americans. Chaos and civil disorder appeared to have replaced civil debate in the political arena. The divisions and Assess and Reteach

violence in Chicago mirrored the deep divisions in American politics and the heartbreaking violence on the front lines in Vietnam. Assess Progress L3 ½ Richard Nixon Wins the Presidency At a much more peaceful convention Have students complete the Section in Miami, Republicans nominated Richard M. Nixon, who promised if elected he Assessment. would deliver “peace with honor.” He wanted the United States out of Vietnam, ½ Administer the Section Quiz. but he also demanded honorable peace terms. He promised to listen to “the Teaching Resources, p. 27 great, quiet forgotten majority—the nonshouters and the nondemonstrators.” ½ This large group of Americans, described by one commentator as “the young, the To further assess student understanding, use Progress Monitoring unblack, and the unpoor,” was dubbed the “silent majority.” Throughout his “Silent” Supporters campaign, Nixon used a “southern strategy” of courting more conservative Transparencies, 131. In 1969, President Nixon called his southern voters with appeals to law and order, striving to pull them away from supporters the “silent majority.” their traditional support of the Democratic Party. Especially strong in the South and Reteach Alabama governor George Wallace also ran for the presidency on a third- West, the silent majority consisted If students need more instruction, party ticket. A lifelong Democrat prior to his entry into the race, Wallace said of patriotic veterans of World War II have them read the section summary. that neither of the traditional political parties represented southern voters who and the Korean War, middle class were unsettled by the cultural and social changes in the country. He had no blue-collar workers, conservative Reading and Note Taking L3 sympathy for the demands of antiwar radicals, counterculture hippies, or African young Americans, and many others. Study Guide American militants. He represented the “white backlash” against the civil rights movement and the desire to press forward to victory in Vietnam. Adapted Reading and L1 L2 The combination of Nixon’s “southern strategy” and Wallace’s third-party Note Taking Study Guide candidacy siphoned traditionally Democratic votes away from Humphrey. In a Spanish Reading and L2 close election, Nixon captured victory by winning 43.6 percent of the popular Note Taking Study Guide vote and 301 electoral votes. Humphrey received 42.5 percent of the popular vote and Wallace 13.6 percent. The election marked the end of the Democratic “Solid South” and signaled significant changes in the nation’s political land- Extend L4 scape. Richard Nixon’s ascendancy marked a new Republican domination of the Direct students to the text at the American presidency. beginning of the section that describes the U.S. military draft during the Viet- What happened at the 1968 Democratic Convention in nam War. Have students review the Chicago? opposing viewpoints about the draft and write brief persuasive paragraphs arguing for or against a draft in the SECTION United States. 3 Progress Monitoring Online Assessment For: Self-test with vocabulary practice Web Code: nea-1608 Answer Comprehension Writing About History Critical Thinking Violence broke out between some 1. Terms and People For each item 3. Quick Write: Answer Opposing 4. Evaluate Information Identify below, write a sentence explaining its Arguments To write a strong three factors that led to the growth of protesters and police. significance. persuasive essay, you need to address the antiwar movement. Which do you • draftee arguments that could be raised to think was the most important? • “credibility gap” refute your own position. Choose a 5. Identify Effects How did the military • Tet Offensive topic from this section, such as outcome of the Tet Offensive differ from • Eugene McCarthy whether Johnson made the right deci- its impact on the American people? sion by withdrawing from the 1968 2. Reading Skill: 6. Draw Conclusions What were the

presidential race. Then, create a chart Recognize Sequence Use your chief weaknesses of the Democrats in listing arguments on both sides of the flowchart to answer the Section Focus the 1968 election? How did these weak- debate. Question: How did the American war nesses aid the election of Richard Nixon? effort in Vietnam lead to rising protests and social divisions back home?

Section 3 Assessment 4. Sample answer: Three factors that led to were determined and that the war would the growth of the antiwar movement not end quickly. 1. Sentences should reflect an understand- were the draft, increasing casualties, 6. Democrats argued about whether to sup- ing of each item listed. and questions about whether the war port the war and alienated conservative 2. Little progress was being made in the war. furthered American interests. The southern voters, including George Wal- There were many casualties. Most soldiers increasing number of U.S. military casu- lace, who ran as a third-party candidate. were from poor and working-class back- alties was probably the most important Nixon promised peace with honor and grounds, and a large number were African factor because many Americans did not courted conservative southerners. Americans. Also, the government contin- want their loved ones to die in a war that ued to issue optimistic statements about could not be won. the war despite increasing news reports 5. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces kept showing the contrary. the Vietcong and North Vietnamese from For additional assessment, have students access 3. Students’ charts should list arguments on achieving their goals, but the offensive Progress Monitoring Online at Web both sides of the topics they have chosen. proved to Americans that communists Code nea-1608.

Chapter 20 Section 3 663