1968: Key Events Of The 1960's

1968 was defiantly a pivotal year for America. It was pretty much the year of complete chaos. In some ways it seems that history is currently repeating itself. First there was the Tet, which was one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. Tet was the first event of 1968 that demonstrated the sixties had become the “Decade of Tumult and Change.” This one year was far significant as any other year during the twentieth century. It radically altered social, cultural, and political realities, and that was demonstrated as 1968 exploded over social issues such as race, youth, violence, lifestyles and over the Vietnam War. Tet produced sensational visions: U.S officials defending themselves, shooting out of windows at the embassy. General
It triggered many activists to volunteer for the campaign of Senator Eugene McCarthy and were referred to as “McCarthy’s kids”. After Tet many students headed to McCarthy’s headquarters to help the senator in the New Hampshire primary. Many of the students came from prominent Ivy League colleges and eventually from over 100 universities across the nation. They worked hard and going door to door, making phone calls and distributing campaign information. They were against the war and wanted a candidate that supported peace in Vietnam. The White House polls predicted that McCarthy would win by only 6%, compared to 76% for President Johnson. On Election Day the senator beat Johnson by winning 42%, which was 20 of the state’s 24 delegates. Once Johnson decided to withdraw from the race, Robert F. Kennedy announced his candidacy for the nomination. The race was tight between Kennedy and McCarthy, but early June the people voted. 46 percent for Kennedy and 42 percent for McCarthy. Shortly after, he was shot and
He talked about a forthcoming march on Washington referred to as his “Poor People Campaign”, which included all races. It was referred to as the next phase of the civil rights struggle, suggesting that Congress pass an “Economic Bill of Rights”, which would enforce integration, quickly end housing discrimination, and most importantly, develop social programs that guaranteed reasonable employment. King had been losing supporters and was being attacked by black power advocates and some people who were frustrated with him because he was against war. He had been receiving death threats and had a gut feeling that something was going to happen to him. During his speech he said “Well, I don’t know what will happen now, but it really doesn’t matter to me because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I’ve seen the Promised Land…Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” The next evening after giving his speech, he was gunned down on the balcony of his motel. His death had an impact on Americans everywhere. Some Americans were happy about his death and others were not. Rioting swept the nation. Blacks poured out into over 100 cities, causing complete chaos, but the worse part was Washington, D.C where over 700 fires turned the sky dark and smoke covered the capitol building. Troops were called to patrol the streets, to keep the peace. The final casualty count was