1968 in the United States was marked by several major historical events. It is often considered to be one of the most turbulent and traumatic years of the
20th century in the United States.[1]
The year began with relative peace until January 21 when the North Vietnamese Army
PAVN attacked the Marine base at
Khe Sanh Combat Base Quang Tri Province, Vietnam. This was the beginning of the
Battle of Khe Sanh and the attack focused US command on Khe Sanh near the
DMZ. The initial attack was followed by the North Vietnamese country-wide launch of the
Tet Offensive on January 30, resulting in a South Vietnamese-US victory, eliminating the
Viet Cong as an effective fighting force. The attack included a North Vietnamese assassination attempt on South Vietnam's president
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu which failed. North Vietnam premised the attack on a South Vietnamese uprising against South Vietnam and US forces but this uprising did not occur as the South Vietnamese populace did not rally to the North. Also, on January 23 the North Korean government seized
USS Pueblo and its crew of eighty-three in an attempt to divert attention from a failed January 21 assassination attempt on South Korean President
Park Chung-hee known as the
Blue House raid. In
Greenland a
B-52 bomber on a
Cold War mission known as
Operation Chrome Domecrashed with four nuclear bombs on board. One airman was killed. The cleanup operation was informally known as Operation Freezelove, a play on words on the movie Dr. Strangelove.
Four to six thousand citizens of the city of
Huế, Vietnam, deemed political enemies, were either clubbed to death or buried alive by the North Vietnamese Army. This is known as the
Massacre at Hue.
The year also saw the highest level of US troop commitment when President
Lyndon B. Johnson signed legislation that increased the maximum number of United States troops active on the ground to five hundred and forty-nine thousand and five hundred (549,500). This did not count US forces in the
South China Sea, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, North Vietnam, and China with reserves in the Philippines,
Okinawa, Japan, Korea,
Guam,
Hawaii, the United States, and worldwide totaling over three million (3,000,000). South Vietnam in the same year fielded a total force of eight hundred and twenty thousand troops (820,000). It was also the most expensive year of the war, with a cost of $77.4 billion. The support of the United States for South Vietnam was at its peak.
Antiwar sentiment continued to grow as an increasing number of Americans questioned United States involvement in Vietnam, as the United States was drafting young men to fight for South Vietnam while South Vietnam did not have a draft for its own citizens; however, the war continued despite changing US public opinion.
North Vietnam benefited politically from the
Tet Offensive when
Walter Cronkite, a respected television newscaster, swayed many Americans and President Johnson, by giving his personal opinion on a national prime time editorial: "It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the 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." This may have marked a transition in journalism where a news reporter became a news and policy maker. President Johnson cited Walter Cronkite's changed opinion as a factor as well as Johnson's poor New Hampshire primary numbers in his decision to stop seeking reelection, stating to his advisers: "If I have lost Cronkite I have lost middle America."
On April 4, civil rights activist
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The United States erupted in
violent riots, the most severe of which occurred in
Washington, D.C.,
Chicago, and
Baltimore. Extensive areas of these and many other cities were looted, burned, and destroyed by the rioters and more than 40 people were killed during the month of protest, which led to greater racial tensions between Americans. Despite this, a landmark piece of legislation, the
Civil Rights Act of 1968, which was President
John F. Kennedy's legacy, was passed by the expertise of President Johnson in April. This legislation was passed with bipartisan
Congressional support and effectively prohibited housing discrimination based on race.
The
1968 United States presidential election became a referendum on the Vietnam War. A peace candidate had previously emerged in the
Democratic Party when Senator
Eugene McCarthy challenged the Vietnam War policies of President Johnson, who had refused to seek or accept another nomination for president and had endorsed his vice president,
Hubert Humphrey, for the Democratic presidential nomination. Senator McCarthy's support came primarily from young people, most of whom were subject to the draft or were in deferred status. This divided the country by age as older citizens, a so-called silent majority, tended to support or not actively oppose government policies. This division of the populace encouraged Senator
Robert F. Kennedy to seek the Democratic presidential nomination.
Robert F. Kennedy who was a leading
1968 Democratic presidential candidate was assassinated after winning the
California primary and defeating Senator Eugene McCarthy. The
assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in June led to uncertainty in the race for the Democratic nomination for the
presidency. After Vice President Humphrey won the Democratic nomination at the
1968 Democratic National Convention in
Chicago, another wave of violent protests emerged, this time between the mostly young antiwar demonstrators and police. The uncertainty within the Democratic Party benefited
Richard Nixon, a
Republican and former
vice president, as he successfully won the presidential race by appealing to the "Silent Majority" under the promise "Peace with Honor". Nixon, a staunch anti-communist, had gained the voters' trust. A particularly strong showing by segregationist
George Wallace of the
American Independent Party in 1968's presidential election highlighted the strong element of racial division that continued to persist across the country.
January 2 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average is 906.4.
January 5 – The United States indicts
Benjamin Spock, famous
pediatrician and author, for conspiracy to violate the draft laws. Spock's indictment is set aside in 1969.
January 6
N. E. Shumway performs the first adult cardiac transplant operation in the U.S.
Surveyor 7, the last of the series of uncrewed probes, is launched by the U.S. for soft-landing on the Moon.
January 7 – First-class US postage is raised from 5 cents to 6 cents. US Prime rate is 6%.
The Florida Education Association (FEA) initiates a mass resignation of teachers to protest state funding of education. This is, in effect, the first statewide teachers' strike in the U.S.
February 28 – The influential American news reporter
Walter Cronkite shows his disdain for the Vietnam War effort during a broadcast, which influences President Johnson not to seek another term.
Vietnam War –
My Lai massacre: American troops kill scores of civilians. The story will first become public in November 1969 and will help undermine public support for the U.S. efforts in Vietnam.
March 17 – A demonstration in
London's
Grosvenor Square against U.S. involvement in the
Vietnam War leads to violence; 91 people are injured and 200 demonstrators are arrested.
March 19–23 –
Afrocentrism,
Black power,
Vietnam War: Students at
Howard University in
Washington, D.C. signal a new era of militant student activism on college campuses in the U.S. Students stage rallies, protests, and a 5-day sit-in. Students lay siege to the administration building, shut down the university in protest over its
ROTC program and the Vietnam War, and demand a more Afrocentric curriculum.
March 21 –
Vietnam War: In ongoing campus unrest,
Howard University students protesting the Vietnam War, the
ROTC program on campus, and the draft, confront Gen.
Lewis Hershey, then head of the U.S.
Selective Service System, and as he attempts to deliver an address, shouting cries of "America is the Black man's battleground!"
September 20 – Hawaii Five-O debuts on
CBS, and eventually becomes the longest-running crime show in television history, until Law & Order overtakes it in 2003.
October 7 – At the height of protests against the Vietnam War,
José Feliciano performs "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Tiger Stadium in Detroit during Game 5 pre-game ceremonies of the
1968 World Series between the Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals. His personalized, slow, Latin jazz performance proves highly controversial, opening the door for later interpretations of the national anthem.
October 10 –
1968 World Series: The
Detroit Tigers defeat the
St. Louis Cardinals in the best of 7 series (4 games to 3) after being down 3 games to 1, completing an unlikely comeback against the heavily favored Cardinals led by the overpowering right-handed pitcher
Bob Gibson. The final score of Game 7 is 4–1.
October 16 – In
Mexico City,
Tommie Smith and
John Carlos, two black Americans competing in the Olympic 200-meter run, raise their arms in a
black power salute after winning, respectively, the gold and bronze medals for 1st and 3rd place.
October 31 –
Vietnam War: Citing progress in the
Paris peace talks, U.S. President
Lyndon B. Johnson announces to the nation that he has ordered a complete cessation of "all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of
North Vietnam" effective November 1.
November 11 –
Vietnam War:
Operation Commando Hunt is initiated to interdict men and supplies on the
Ho Chi Minh Trail, through
Laos into
South Vietnam. By the end of the operation, 3 million tons of bombs are dropped on Laos, slowing but not seriously disrupting trail operations.
November 12 – A mere 39 days before the
Apollo 8 spaceflight,
NASA Headquarters reveals to the public that the three-man crew would travel to and orbit the moon for Christmas, the first people ever to do so.[5][6]
November 14 –
Yale University announces it is going to admit women.
November 16 – The crew of Apollo 8 holds a news conference in the auditorium of the
Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston to describe their forthcoming historic moon mission and to answer reporters' questions.[5]
November 17 – The
Heidi game:
NBC cuts off the final 1:05 of an
Oakland Raiders–
New York Jets football game to broadcast the pre-scheduled Heidi. Fans are unable to see Oakland (which had been trailing 32–29) score 2 late touchdowns to win 43–32; as a result, thousands of outraged football fans flood the NBC switchboards to protest.
December 3 – The 50-minute television special Elvis airs on
NBC marking the comeback of
Elvis Presley after seven years during which the legendary rock and roll musician's career has centered on the movie industry. It is the highest rated television special of the year.
December 6 – During an airing of Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, NBC renews The Banana Splits Adventure Hour for a second season.
The film Oliver!, based on the hit London and
Broadway musical, opens in the U.S. after being released first in England. It goes on to win the
Academy Award for Best Picture.
In or about this year the
HIV virus is thought to have first arrived in the U.S.[8]
United Artists pulls eleven
Looney Tunes and
Merrie Melodies cartoons in its library from television due to the depiction of racist stereotypes towards African-Americans. These cartoons come to be known as the
Censored Eleven.
^
abMars, Kelli (November 13, 2018).
"50 Years Ago, Apollo 8 is GO for the Moon!". NASA. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration today announced that the Apollo 8 mission would be prepared for an orbital flight around the Moon.
^Klesius, Mike (December 19, 2008).
"To Boldly Go". Smithsonian Magazine. On November 12, [Tom] Paine, by then the new NASA administrator, announced to the world that Apollo 8's mission had changed, and that it would take Borman, Lovell, and Anders into orbit around the moon on Christmas Eve.