1968 was a turning point for

the US.To what extent is this an accurate assessment?

By Shelby Stensland

The Election of 1968: Candidates

• After the assassination of Robert Kennedy on June 5, 1968, the election of 1968 was down to George Wallace, Richard Nixon, and Hubert Humphrey.

• Hubert Humphrey: Johnson’s vice president, liberal democrat, not a favorite of the nation (people were sick of the unrest during his vice presidency)

• Richard Nixon: conservative, republican, “hawk” on the Vietnam war

• George Wallace: self-nominated, conservative, used the growing resentment of whites over turmoil

The Election of 1968: Outcome

• Nixon defeated Humphrey with a very close popular vote, but a substantial electoral vote majority

• The election showed Americans wanted time to heal from the chaos of the 60s. The citizens began turning against liberalism in favor of conservatism.

The Vietnam War: A Change in Opinion

• Before 1968, many Americans supported the war effort, but this changed.

• January: the Vietcong launched the Tet Offensive, an enormous surprise attack and took a toll on cities. The US counterattack was successful, but the destruction seen on TV shocked the American public and setback Johnson’s Vietnam policy.

• Walter Cronkite after visiting Vietnam said, “only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.”

The Vietnam War: A Change in Policy

• March 31, 1968: President Johnson announced he would limit bombing in Vietnam and negotiate peace

• This is the first de-escalation of Vietnam.

• Peace talks began on May 10th.

Civil Rights Escalation

• The fight for equality of the races reached a fever pitch in 1968.

• The Kerner Commission, a federal investigation of many riots, concluded in late 1968 that racism and segregation were responsible for the tension between whites and blacks in America. This legitimized the struggles of blacks by the government, something very rare.

• April 1968: Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, leading to major riots in 168 cities and at least 46 people dead.

Summary of 1968

• Americans turned away from liberalism and turned to conservatism to ease then chaos.

• Johnson de-escalated the Vietnam war for the first time.

• The Civil Rights movement escalated and turned violent after MLK’s death.\