1968 Newsletter
Vietnam war
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was one of the biggest turning points of the Vietnam War. Although from a purely military standpoint the U.S. and South Vietnamese forces emerged victorious, it was a strong psychological victory for the Northern Communists (American History). The Original concept for the Tet Offensive came from General Vo Nguyne Giap of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, or North Vietnam. He knew that since the U.S. entered the war on the side of the south, the communists had been on the loosing end of the battle.
Democratic Convetion
The 1968 Democratic National Convention of the U.S. Democrative Party was held at the International Ampphitheatre in Chicago, Illinios, from August 26 to August 29, 1968. Because President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, the purpose of the convention was to select a new presidential nominee to run as the Democratic Party's candidate for the office.The Keynote speake was Senator Daniel Inouye D-Hawaii
Assassination of Robert Kennedy
Robert Kennedy (1925-1968) served as the U.S. attorney general from 1961 to 1964 and as a U.S. senator from New York from 1965 to 1968. A graduate of Harvard University and the University of Virginia School of Law, Kennedy was appointed attorney general after his brother John Kennedy (1917-1963) was elected president in 1960. In this role, Robert Kennedy fought organized crime and worked for civil rights for African Americans. He also served as a close advisor to the president. In the Senate, he was a committed advocate of the poor and racial minorities, and opposed escalation of the Vietnam War. On June 5, 1968, while in Los Angeles campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination, Kennedy was shot. He died early the next day at age 42. Kennedy, the father of 11 children, was buried at Virginia’s Arlington National Cemetery near the grave of his brother John.
Assassination of Marthin Luther King
On April 3, 1968, on his way to Memphis, Tennessee, Martin Luther King’s plane was delayed by a bomb threat. But that evening, having duly arrived in Memphis, King delivered what would be his last speech, known as the “I’ve been to the mountaintop” speech, from within the Mason Temple, headquarters of the Pentecostal ‘Church of God in Christ’. Outside a thunderstorm blew up as King addressed his enthusiastic audience: “I have been to the mountain top and I have seen the Promised Land… And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.
Election of 1968
The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was a wrenching national experience, conducted against a backdrop that included the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and subsequent race riots across the nation, the assassination of presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, widespread demonstrations against the Vietnam War across American university and college campuses, and violent confrontations between police and anti-war protesters at the 1968 Democratic National Convention