Changes

Johnson was a tough Texan used to giving orders and destroying anyone who got in his way.  His tricks included personal accusations and threats, and even sending opponents on foreign trips at a time when a key vote was scheduled, so they could not vote against it.  Johnson became so famous for his confrontational tactics that it even acquired a name:  "The Treatment," which consisted of Johnson confronting an adversary and berating him with Johnson's face only inches from his opponent.

Johnson was a tough Texan used to giving orders and destroying anyone who got in his way.  His tricks included personal accusations and threats, and even sending opponents on foreign trips at a time when a key vote was scheduled, so they could not vote against it.  Johnson became so famous for his confrontational tactics that it even acquired a name:  "The Treatment," which consisted of Johnson confronting an adversary and berating him with Johnson's face only inches from his opponent.

But Johnson's own arrogance, manipulation and intimidating tactics became his undoing.  In the fall of 1964, Johnson was up for reelection and, like many presidents before him, he became paranoid about the possibility of defeat.  The Republican Party nominated the conservative Barry Goldwater, and he was delivering tough, uncompromising speeches against Johnson.  Johnson, who was completely self-centered, watched public opinion polls closely and he <>.

But Johnson's own arrogance, manipulation and intimidating tactics became his undoing.  In the fall of 1964, Johnson was up for reelection and, like many presidents before him, he became paranoid about the possibility of defeat.  The Republican Party nominated the conservative Barry Goldwater, and he was delivering tough, uncompromising speeches against Johnson.  Johnson, who was completely self-centered, watched public opinion polls closely.

Johnson then sparked and exaggerated a conflict in Vietnam in order to increase public support for his leadership.  The popularity of a president always increases when America is attacked.  The problem was the facts:  the American destroyer USS Maddox attacked three North Vietnamese P-4 torpedo boats before they could attack us.  Days later a completely false report of an attack on the Maddox by the North Vietnamese was publicized.  Johnson presented this false information to Congress in order to obtain passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted Johnson the power to assist South Vietnam against communist aggression.  Based on Truman Doctrine, this was not a declaration of war, but Johnson used it to support injecting the United States into the Vietnam War and to win reelection in 1964 in a landslide.

Johnson then sparked and exaggerated a conflict in Vietnam in order to increase public support for his leadership.  The popularity of a president always increases when America is attacked.  The problem was the facts:  the American destroyer USS Maddox attacked three North Vietnamese P-4 torpedo boats before they could attack us.  Days later a completely false report of an attack on the Maddox by the North Vietnamese was publicized.  Johnson presented this false information to Congress in order to obtain passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted Johnson the power to assist South Vietnam against communist aggression.  Based on Truman Doctrine, this was not a declaration of war, but Johnson used it to support injecting the United States into the Vietnam War and to win reelection in 1964 in a landslide.

We did not run the war any better under President Richard Nixon, who was the next president after Johnson.  We would win a battle and then our leaders, particularly Nixon's adviser Henry Kissinger, would call for a "cease-fire" to discuss settlement.  But the Communists had no intention of settling, and they would just use the cease-fires to obtain replacement of all their ammunition and supplies from China and the Soviet Union.  Some of our military leaders could have done better also.  Many of our planes were shot down early in the war, including the one carrying John McCain, and it took years before we improved and better protected our pilots.  We did not anticipate or sweep the territory for land mines as well as we do today, although the jungle in Vietnam made that more difficult than a desert.

We did not run the war any better under President Richard Nixon, who was the next president after Johnson.  We would win a battle and then our leaders, particularly Nixon's adviser Henry Kissinger, would call for a "cease-fire" to discuss settlement.  But the Communists had no intention of settling, and they would just use the cease-fires to obtain replacement of all their ammunition and supplies from China and the Soviet Union.  Some of our military leaders could have done better also.  Many of our planes were shot down early in the war, including the one carrying John McCain, and it took years before we improved and better protected our pilots.  We did not anticipate or sweep the territory for land mines as well as we do today, although the jungle in Vietnam made that more difficult than a desert.

The war, and particularly the draft, became hugely unpopular.  People from all walks of life began protesting against in the United States.  They caused disruption at colleges.  The protests became bigger and bigger.  At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968, hippies caused massive riots that were brutally suppressed by Democratic Mayor Richard Daley, which was a political disaster for the Democratic Party.  The "Chicago Seven," the hippie ringleaders of the riots, were convicted for disrupting the convention but their convictions were overturned on appeal.  Democrats had hoped to nominate Robert Kennedy, the brother of the late President John Kennedy, had Robert Kennedy was assassinated in June by a disgruntled immigrant from the Middle East (Jordan).  The Democrats then nominated Vice President Hubert Humphrey instead.   

The war, and particularly the draft, became hugely unpopular.  People from all walks of life began protesting against in the United States.  They caused disruption at colleges.  The protests became bigger and bigger.  At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968, hippies caused massive riots that were brutally suppressed by the tough Chicago Democratic Mayor Richard Daley, which was a political disaster for the Democratic Party.  The "Chicago Seven," the hippie ringleaders of the riots, were convicted for disrupting the convention but their convictions were overturned on appeal.  Democrats had hoped to nominate Robert Kennedy, the brother of the late President John Kennedy, had Robert Kennedy was assassinated in June by a disgruntled immigrant from the Middle East (Jordan).  The Democrats then nominated Vice President Hubert Humphrey instead.  (President Johnson himself had pulled out of the race after the first primary in New Hampshire, when he fared poorly due to unhappiness in his own Party about the war.)

 

Humphrey lost the presidential election to Republican Richard Nixon, who was nominated at a peaceful convention in 1968 in Miami (which your teacher attended, and where he met Nixon in person).

Humphrey lost the presidential election to Republican Richard Nixon, who was nominated at a peaceful convention in 1968 in Miami (which your teacher attended, and where he met Nixon in person).

President Nixon did not handle the war any better than Johnson had.   

President Nixon did not handle the war any better than Johnson had.   

In 1969, Nixon tried "Vietnamization", which consisted of America giving planes to South Vietnam so it could defend itself against the communists; this strategy was unsuccessful.  Henry Kissinger, a foreign-born adviser to Nixon who essentially ran the Nixon Administration, settled the war in the Paris peace talks in 1972-73 on terms that required the United States to pull out.  North Vietnam then took over South Vietnam, and the final pictures were of South Vietnamese desperately trying to board the last planes bound for America.

In 1969, Nixon tried "Vietnamization", which consisted of America giving planes to South Vietnam so it could defend itself against the communists; this strategy was unsuccessful.  Also in 1969, news reports from Vietnam shocked the nation with a story about how American soldiers had murdered villagers in the "My Lai Massacre."  The story was that our soldiers would unsuccessfully look for North Vietnamese, known as "Viet Cong," but in their frustration in finding the real enemy would allegedly kill innocent people instead.

 

 

Henry Kissinger, a foreign-born adviser to Nixon who essentially ran the Nixon Administration, settled the war in the Paris peace talks in 1972-73 on terms that required the United States to pull out.  North Vietnam then took over South Vietnam (Saigon fell to the communists in 1975), and the final pictures were of South Vietnamese desperately trying to board the last planes bound for America.  A decade later, a memorial was built in D.C. that commemorates those who gave their lives.  Some say that the fighting was not in vain, because it slowed down the growth of communism long enough to save the neighboring countries until the Soviet Union itself collapsed.

To avoid a repeat of involvement in a war without a formal declaration of war, as happened in the Vietnam War (and in the Korean War), Congress passed the War Powers Act.  It requires that the President obtain the approval of Congress within 60 days of using troops in battle in a foreign conflict.

To avoid a repeat of involvement in a war without a formal declaration of war, as happened in the Vietnam War (and in the Korean War), Congress passed the War Powers Act.  It requires that the President obtain the approval of Congress within 60 days of using troops in battle in a foreign conflict.

In 1971, in ''New York Times v. U.S.'', the Supreme Court denied President Nixon the power to stop publication of the Pentagon Papers, which was a secret document prepared by the government that had been leaked to the press.  It contained an embarrassing study of American involvement in Vietnam.

In 1971, in ''New York Times v. U.S.'', the Supreme Court denied President Nixon the power to stop publication of the Pentagon Papers, which was a secret document prepared by the government that had been leaked to the press.  It contained an embarrassing study of American involvement in Vietnam.

==ERA and Abortion==

==ERA and Abortion==