Vietnam Ch22-4

Name: PERIOD:

Email:

Vietnam Ch22-4

Multiple Choice

Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

The year 1968 began with a daring surprise attack by the Vietcong on numerous cities in South Vietnam. The simultaneous strikes, while a military defeat for the Communist guerrillas, stunned the American public and caused many people with moderate views to begin turning against the war.

A SURPRISE ATTACK

January 30 was the Vietnamese New Year’s Eve. The lunar new year festivities were called Tet. Throughout that day in 1968, villagers streamed into cities across South Vietnam to celebrate their New Year. At the time of the Tet celebration, many funerals were being held for victims of the war. As it turned out, the coffins contained weapons, and many of the villagers were Vietcong agents . That night the enemy launched an attack on nearly 100 towns and cities in South Vietnam, as well as 12 U.S . air bases . The fighting was especially fierce in Saigon and in the former imperial capital of Hue. The Vietcong even attacked the U.S. embassy in Saigon, killing five Americans there. The Tet offensive continued for nearly a month before U.S . and South Vietnamese forces regained control of the cities General Westmoreland declared the attacks an overwhelming defeat for the Vietcong. From a purely military standpoint, Westmoreland was right. The Vietcong lost about 32,000 soldiers during the month-long battle, while the American and ARVN (South Vietnam) forces lost little more than 3,000.

However, from a psychological-and political-standpoint, the Vietcong made gains. Despite its overall military failure, the Tet offensive greatly shook an American public that had come to believe that the enemy was close to defeat. The Johnson administration’s credibility gap suddenly widened to a point from which it would never recover.

Many Americans no longer believed the administration. Part of the problem for the U.S. was the way the Tet Offensive was reported in the American media. People who opposed the war, many in the media, used Tet to prove that the U.S. was loosing the war. In fact, the U.S. was winning the war but the perception was that the U.S. was loosing. In the political world, perception is everything and the perception was that President Johnson was defeated by the Vietnam war.

What was Tet

a.	Summer holiday for the Vietnamese	c.	The holiday equal to our Christmas
b.	Vietnamese New Year	d.	Election Day in Vietnam

The Tet offensive was a military defeat for

a.	the U.S.	c.	neither the U.S. nor the Vietnamese
b.	the Communists Vietnamese	d.	both the Communists and the U.S.

The Tet offensive was a psychological defeat for

a.	the U.S.	c.	neither the U.S. or the communists
b.	the Communist Vietnamese	d.	both the U.S. and the communists

Look at the map. The Ho Chi Min Trail was a series of trails that the North Vietnamese used to supply the Vietcong and the North Vietnam soldiers in the South. What countries did the Ho Chi Minh trail go through?

a.	Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam	c.	Cambodia, Thailand, China
b.	Laos, Cambodia, Thailand	d.	North Vietnam, Thailand,

A NATION TURNS ON JOHNSON

The main-stream media, which had reported the war in a skeptical but generally balanced way, now openly criticized the war.One of the nation’s most respected journalists, Walter Cronkite, told his viewers that it now seemed “more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate.” In a matter of weeks, the Tet offensive had changed millions of minds about the war. Minds were also changing at the White House. To fill the defense secretary position left vacant by Robert McNamara’s resignation, Johnson picked Clark Clifford, a trusted friend and strong supporter of the president’s Vietnam pol icy. However, after settling in and studying the situation, Clifford concluded that the war was unwinnable. “We seem to have a sinkhole,” Clifford said . “We put in more-they match it . I see more and more fighting with more and more casualties on the U.S . side and no end in sight to the action.

In the weeks following the Tet offensive, Johnson’s popularity plummeted. In public opinion polls taken at the end of February 1968, nearly 60 percent of the American public disapproved of the president’s handling of the war. Nearly half of the country now felt it had been a mistake to send American troops to Vietnam. Johnson recognized the change, too. Upon learning of Cronkite’s pessimistic analysis of the war, the president lamented, “If I’ve lost Walter, then its over. I’ve lost Mr.Average Citizen”

Who was Walter Cronkite?

a.	A popular Senator	c.	A popular nightly news broadcaster
b.	A popular Talk Radio Host	d.	The host of the Tonight Show

President Johnson relied heavily on advice from former Kennedy advisors about the war in Vietnam. Events showed that the advise he got was

a.	good	c.	pro communist
b.	helpful	d.	faulty

What does this passage suggest about the American Presidency?

a.	The president has the ultimate responsibility for foreign policy in the U.S.	c.	The president is not responsible for the war because he used Kennedy’s advisors.
b.	Congress is responsible for foreign affairs	d.	The Supreme Court should have helped Johnson with the Vietnam war

JOHNSON WITHDRAWS

Well before the Tet offensive, an antiwar coalition within the Democratic Party had taken steps to unseat President Johnson . The group sought a Democratic candidate to challenge Johnson in the 1968 presidential primary election. Senator Gene McCarthy, a strong critic of the war, and declared he would run against Johnson. McCarthy was a Democrat and it was unusual for a Democrat to run against his own President. Robert Kennedy promised McCarthy that he would not run for President but said he would support McCarthy. In fact no one thought McCarthy had a chance of beating Johnson.

In the New Hampshire Democratic primary in March 1968, Senator McCarthy shocked the nation by capturing 42 percent of the vote. While Johnson won the primary with 48 percent of the vote, the slim margin of victory was viewed as a defeat for the president. Johnson seemed weak in the polls so Kennedy went back on his promise to McCarthy and announced that he too was running for president against Johnson.

It is a well known fact that Johnson and Kennedy had a deep dislike for each other going back as far as 1960. Johnson felt that the Kennedy’s looked down on him because he was not born rich and went to a small, unknown college. Many people believed that Johnson could not bear to loose the presidential election to Bobby Kennedy. This fact may have contributed to the following event.

President Johnson decided not to run for President again

On March 31, 1968, President Johnson made a speech to the nation on Vietnam. He ended the speech by saying, Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as president.” The president was stepping down from national politics, his grand plan for domestic reform done in by a costly and divisive war. Johnson admitted that the Vietnam war had killed his “Great Society plans.“

Why did Johnson fear he would not be able to beat Robert Kennedy in an election for President?

a.	Kennedy had more money	c.	Johnson was low in the polls and unpopular at the time
b.	Kennedy was better looking	d.	Kennedy, like Johnson was in favor of the war.

If McCarthy got 42% of the vote in New Hampshire, and Johnson got 48% of the vote, why was it considered a defeat for Johnson?

a.	McCarthy was a Republican	c.	Neither candidate got a majority
b.	To be president you need 268 electoral votes	d.	No one expected McCarthy to do that well against a sitting president

10.

What was the “grand plan for national reform” that Johnson believed he was unable to complete because of the Vietnam war?

a.	The New Deal	c.	Vietnamization
b.	The Square Deal	d.	The Great Society

11.

Why did a coalition form inside the Democratic party to try and unseat President Johnson from the presidency?

a.	They did not like the Great Society	c.	They wanted George Wallace to win because of his stand on segregation
b.	They favored Richard Nixon	d.	They did not like Johnson’s stand on the Vietnam war

VIOLENCE AND PROTEST GRIP THE NATION in the 1960’s

The Democrats-as well as the nation-were in for more shock in 1968. Johnson’s startling announcement had barely sunk in when America was rocked by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4. In the wake of the civil rights leader’s death, violence ripped through more than 100 U.S . cities as enraged followers of King burned buildings and destroyed neighborhoods .

Violence and rage engulfed the nation’s capital for several days, as rioters set more than 700 fires. Federal army troops in full combat gear were called in to protect the Capitol and the White House. By the end of the week, 21,000 federal troops and 34,000 National Guardsmen had been called upon to subdue the rioting across the country. When it was all over, 46 persons were dead, more than 3,000 were injured and some 27,000 were arrested . Just two months later, a bullet cut down yet another popular national figure.

By June of 1968, Robert Kennedy had become a strong candidate in the Democratic primary, drawing support heavily from minorities and urban Democratic voters . On Tune 4, Kennedy won the California primary. Just after midnight, he gave a victory speech at a Los Angeles hotel . On his way out of the hotel, he passed through the Hotel’s kitchen . A young Palestinian immigrant, Sirhan Sirllan, was hiding in the kitchen with a gun. Sirhan, who later said he was angered by Kennedy’s support of Israel, fatally shot the senator.

Meanwhile, the nation’s college campuses continued to erupt in protest. During the first six months of 1968, almost 40,000 students on more than 100 campuses took part in 221 major demonstrations . While many of the demonstrations continued to target U .S . involvement in the Vietnam War- -students also clashed with university officials over campus and social issues. A massive student protest at Columbia University in New York City held the nation’s attention for a week in April . There, students protesting the university’s community policies took over several buildings. Police eventually restored order and arrested nearly 900 protesters .

The violent decade of the 60s

1963 President John F. Kennedy assassinated

1963 Lee Harvey Oswald (Kennedy’s killer) assassination

1965 Los Angeles race riots

1965 Malcom X assassinated

1968 Martin Luther King assassinated

1968 Second race riots of the decade

1968 Robert Kennedy assassination

1968 Presidential candidate, George Wallace shot but survives (paralyzed for life)

College students riot throughout the decade

1968 Riots at the Democrat Convention in Chicago.

12.

Who killed Robert Kennedy

a.	a member of the KKK	c.	a member of the Mafia
b.	a Palestinian terrorist	d.	an environmental terrorist

13.

How did the African American community react to the assassination of Dr. King?

a.	calm sadness	c.	rage
b.	tranquil, thoughtful grief	d.	indifference

14.

What was the most violent year of the 1960s?

a.	1963	c.	1968
b.	1965	d.	1966

15.

What was “Johnson’s startling announcement” referred to in this section?

a.	he called for peace in Vietnam	c.	he claimed he was wrong in Vietnam
b.	he authorized bombing the North	d.	he announced he would not run again for president

*Rioters at the Democrat Convention*	The anti-war protesters did not like Humphry because he had supported President Johnson and they did not want to see him nominated to run for president. The chaos and violence of 1968 climaxed in Chicago. Thousands of antiwar demonstrators converged on the city to protest at the Democratic National Convention in August of that year. The contest was now between Eugene McCarthy and Vice-President Hubert Humphrey. McCarthy, while still popular with the nation’s antiwar segment, but he had little chance of defeating Humphrey, a loyal party man who had President Johnson’s support. During the last week of August,
As the delegates arrived in Chicago, so too did nearly 10,000 protesters . Led by men such as SDS veteran Tom Hayden, many demonstrators sought to pressure the Democrats into adopting an antiwar platform . Others came to voice their displeasure with Humphrey’s nomination . Still others, known as Yippies (members of the Youth International Party), had come hoping to provoke violence that might discredit the Democratic Party. Chicago’s mayor, Richard J. Daley, was determined to keep the protesters under control . With memories of the nationwide riots after King’s death still fresh, Daley mobilized 12,000 Chicago police officers and 5,000 National Guardsmen. “As long as I am mayor,” Daley vowed, “there will be law and order.” Riots broke out and the Chicago police put them down with force. People watched on television and rioters and police fought outside the convention hall. Disorder of a different kind reigned inside the convention hall, where delegates bitterly debated an antiwar plank in the party platform. When word of the riot filtered into the hall, delegates angrily shouted at Daley, who returned their shouts with equal vigor. The whole world indeed was watching-on their televisions . The images of the Democrats-both inside and outside the convention hall-as a party of disorder became etched in the minds of millions of Americans

16.

Who was the leading Democrat in the race for president at the Democrat convention?

a.	Eugene McCarthy	c.	Tom Hayden
b.	Richard Nixon	d.	Hubert Humphry

17.

Which of the candidates was a supporter of President Johnson?

a.	Hubert Humphry	c.	Tom Hayden
b.	Eugene McCarthy	d.	Bobby Kennedy

18.

Who was the mayor of Chicago who gave the order to quell the rioters in Chicago?

a.	Tom Hayden	c.	Hubert Humphry
b.	Richard Daily	d.	Abby Hoffman

19.

There was a debate raging inside the convention also. What were the delegates arguing about?

a.	Whether the party would be pro or anti war	c.	Whether they should nominate Tom Hayden of Richard Nixon
b.	How much they should increase social security	d.	Whether or not Johnson should run again

20.

Millions of people watched the Democrat convention on television. What impression did the people get of the democrat party.

a.	the Democrats were organized and in control.	c.	the Democrats were out of control and unorganized
b.	the Democrats were very democratic	d.	the Democrats were organized

	*Republican Nixon Wins*
In the 1960 election John Kennedy and Richard Nixon ran against each other. It was one of the closest elections in American history. Nixon lost and went back to California where he ran for Governor. Nixon lost that election also and everyone thought he was finished in politics. At the Republican convention Nixon announced that he would run for president. He had a great deal of support in the Republican party and he said his main issue was to restore law and order in the United States. He said he would, “bring us together.” He also said that he had a plan to win the war in Vietnam and would bring an end to that war. Nixon won the nomination of the Republican party. The millions of people who watched the Republican convention saw a well organized convention free of chaos and riots. Another person ran for president in 1968. George Wallace was a democrat and the Governor of Alabama. He was also a segregationist who tried to keep black students from entering the University of Alabama. Wallace did not like the people who were in control of the Democrat party so he decided to leave the Democrat party and run as the American Independent party candidate. He had many supporters in the Democrat party so this took support from Hubert Humphry, the Democrat candidate. So, the race for president was between three candidates in 1968; Hubert Humphry, democrat; George Wallace, American Independent; and Richard Nixon, Republican. In the U.S. each state is given a certain number of votes for president. These votes are called electoral votes and you need a majority of them to be elected. In the end, Nixon defeated Humphrey by more than 100 electoral votes. By winning the presidency Richard Nixon inherited the quagmire in Vietnam. He eventually would end America's involvement in Vietnam but it would take him another 4 years..

21.

To the millions of people watching the conventions on television in 1968, which party seemed to be the most organized and able to run the country.

a.	Republicans	c.	American Independence
b.	Democrats	d.	none of them

22.

Which candidate won more electoral votes than the other two candidates combined?

a.	Humphry	c.	Nixon
b.	Wallace	d.	none of them

23.

George Wallace had a history of anti-black going back to the time he tried to block black students from entering the University of Alabama. If it can be said that George Wallace was the anti-black candidate. What do the election results of 1968 say about racism in America?

a.	The South was the only part of the country that voted to support African Americans.	c.	Except for the South, when given the chance to vote against African Americans, most Americans refused to do so.
b.	Except for the North and West, when given the chance to vote against African Americans, most Americans refused to do so	d.	Most Americans voted to support candidates who were anti-black

24.

Which candidate ran against John F. Kennedy and later Hubert Humphry?

a.	Richard Nixon	c.	Lyndon Johnson
b.	Gene McCarthy	d.	Tom Haydon

25.

Which candidate split the Democrat party by leaving and running as an independent?

a.	Gene McCarthy	c.	George Wallace
b.	Hubert Humphry	d.	Tom Haydon