The Johnson Administration - 1968

1968

By early 1968, demonstrations against the war in the U.S. had assumed large proportions; modern wars with instant communications are very vulnerable to morale issues

Several U.S. officials who initially approved of U.S. actions had turned against the war: McNamara. Bundy, Acheson: it was not winnable at an acceptable price

Electoral challenges to Johnson had emerged within the Democratic Party

Tet Offensive: NLF and NVA launch a coordinated strike against 80 cities across South Vietnam on January 31

Military result is early success followed by the use of U.S. logistical and material advantages to destroy much of the NLF and drive them from the cities

Two major consequences of the Tet Offensive were:

(1) to demonstrate that the U.S. was not close to ending the war: NVN retained over 3/4 of its forces intact after TET
(2) deeply undermined political support for the war in the U.S.

Following a major policy debate, LBJ rejects large-scale additional troop commitments, accepts the idea of unconditional negotiations, halts much of the bombing of NVN, and withdraws from the presidential race (3-31-68)

Negotiations among the U.S., North Vietnam, the NLF, and the South Vietnamese government begin in Paris in May

In October, Johnson stops the rest of the bombing in hopes of progress in negotiations

November 1968 - Richard Nixon is elected president