Why was 1968 a pivital year in the history of the US?

Question

Websites that talk about this topic are welcome. I'm writting a research paper on this and I want a general answer on why it was so important. There is no need to be very specific, as there are hundreds of possible answere. Only a general answer is needed.

Thanks in advanced.
-Felix

Answer 1

If you want my general answer, Felix, read this first paragraph. I must, however, give you a few details so that if you want to know where I am coming from - read the next two. There it is: for the price of one, I will provide two answers! Great question.

Short Answer

1968 was a pivotal year for the United States because three socio-polical forces met head to head and America was rocked because of it. The first - Robert Kennedy (RFK) and Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) represented a progressive vision and a future including racial integration, social justice and an end to American involvement in SE Asia. They died, in part at least, because of their participation in this vision of a new America. A big part of the second force was George Wallace and his kind who promised a repealing of equality laws and a return to domestic order by way of force. He boldly stated troops in the street would keep "them" in line. "Them" of course refered to those who dared question authority (those damned longhairs) or their place in society (those damned n*****s) Then shortly after Wallace's proclamation, stories surfaced about atrocities in Vietnam. It took a couple of years for the full story of My Lai to come out but it became obvious in 1968 that what was being "said about Vietnam" was not in sync with what was "happening in Vietnam". Wallace's brand of conservatism and the horrors of the war were exactly what the third "force" I mentioned was against. This group was made up of the hippies and other free youth groups of the late sixties. They laid the foundation for the social ideology of what much of America experienced throught the 70s, 80s and into the 90s. Not all boomers were hippies. Don't get me wrong. But many boomers were raised on rock n' roll, a little grass and a belief that too much ritual and the leaders of powerful institutions could not always be trusted. This all came to being in 1968. It was quite a year, and one that I suggest, has since not been equaled in importance. It was a pivotal year because it all tested the resilience of the country and provided clear, and competing, visions for the future.

Long Answer

One can go to websites or read an encyclopedia to get the "facts" and the names, but to truly appreciate your question I think it is important to consider the "what ifs". For me the obvious events jump out: the murders of RFK and MLK And after considering these two events I ask what if neither or only one had died. What would America be like now if those men had lived? RFK was a liberal - some say the last liberal with any clout of that era. Would a more compassionate and progressive America have emerged? I have always like to believe so. Would MLK have entered elected politics and served in a federal administration? Would the two have become political and social allies? I wish the opportunity would have been given to those two. They offered hope for many and all was wiped out in a span of two months. I was only ten, but I remember their deaths quite well, and the aftermath.

Two other events and a movement from that year also, I believe, had a great impact on the direction America took thereafter. The first was the killing of hundreds of civilians in March at My Lai, Vietnam. Though the full story took time to emerge, that one atrocity in a war of atrocities really shook the foundations of support for the war and the belief in the so called just cause for being in SE Asia. One can track the "beginning of the end" for America's military presence in Vietnam from this point. The second event is a promise by George Wallace in Alabama. He announced his intention to run for president and clean up America. His answer to the problems facing the country was simple; fill the streets with soldiers and repeal civil rights legislation. My Lai and George Wallace represented the other America that Kennedy and King loathed. Now the "movement" that I mentioned is the influence of the hippies and other counter culture groups. The young, whether they were hippies or not, were greatly affected by the music, the politics and yes the much freer use of drugs and alcohol.

I hope this is not too much. But as I said the first paragraph provides the "general" answer; the next two provide the specifics.

Answer 2

1968 was probably¨*the* pivotal year for the US in the second half of the 20th century, and for the Baby Boom Generation all over the world. Try to imagine the Watergate Affair combined with the Iraqi War Debacle, and you will come close.

A good overview :

"1968", Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968

"Category:1968", "Media related to the year 1968", Wikipedia : http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:1968

"Category:1968 works", "Works published, created or produced in the year 1968", Wikipedia :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:1968_works

"On Jan. 30, 1968, disregarding a truce called for the Tet (lunar new year) holiday, the communists launched an offensive against every major urban area in South Vietnam. Although the Tet Offensive was a military failure, it proved to be a political victory for the communists because it persuaded many Americans that the war could not be ended at a bearable price. Opposition to U.S. involvement became the major issue of the 1968 election. After Senator Eugene McCarthy, a leading critic of the war, ran strongly against him in the New Hampshire primary, Johnson announced that he would not seek or accept renomination. He also curtailed bombing operations, opened peace talks with the North Vietnamese, and on November 1 ended the bombing of North Vietnam."

"While war efforts were being reduced, violence within the United States seemed to be growing. Just two months after King's assassination, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, was assassinated. President Johnson then secured the nomination of Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey at the Democratic National Convention at Chicago, where violence again erupted as antiwar demonstrators were manhandled by local police. Humphrey lost the election to the Republican nominee, former vice president Richard Nixon. The narrowness of Nixon's margin resulted from a third-party campaign by the former governor of Alabama, George Wallace, who attracted conservative votes that would otherwise have gone to Nixon. Democrats retained large majorities in both houses of Congress."

"The Vietnam War", from "United States, history of", Encyclopædia Britannica, CD 2000 Deluxe Edition

Mark Kurlansky, "1968: the year that rocked the world", Jonathan Cape, 2004

Answer 3

1) Tet Offensive -January
2) Martin Luther King Assassinated - April
3) Bobby Kennedy Assassinated - June
4) Democratic Convention in chaos in Chicago - August
5) Nixon Elected - November
6) Apollo VIII orbited the Moon. - December

The year tore America apart like no other since the the Depression or Civil War. The Tet Offensive led to LBJ not running for re-election and turned public opinion against the war. Kennedy's assassination led to Nixon being elected, and the Vietnam War continuing. Martin Luther King's assassinated strained race relations more than ever before.

The bright spot of the year was the flight of Apollo VIII which orbited the Moon over the Christmas holidays with three astronauts aboard. This was the first mission in which man left the pull of gravity of planet Earth. This event kinda eased the tension in the United States at the end of a tumultuous year.

Answer 4

Such issues are concern to opinion, yet i could upload on your checklist the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the inventory marketplace crash of 1929 which ushered in the large melancholy, and 2005 typhoon Katrina,

Answer 5

I've used this website before, and it offered quality information.

http://www.trivia-library.com/united-states-history-1968/index.htm

There are two links, one for early 1968 and one for late 1968, and there may be important information you could use on both.

Answer 6

Start here: You'll see why in a second or two

http://www.infoplease.com/year/1968.html