Class Seven:
1968: Assassinations, Riots, Election, and Vietnam At Its Worst
I can’t look back on 1968 without feeling a profound sense of sadness with its assassinations and its riots, the mounting death toll in Vietnam, and the My Lai massacre. Something was rotting. Perhaps it was our idealism dying. And yet, in December of that year, three men blasted off from earth to go to the moon. They not only gave us a unique picture of our beautiful, delicate home in the cosmos, but also a Christmas Eve reading of the opening verses of the Book of Genesis, and the year ended on a note of hope. And a hint of the success to come—the lunar landing the following year.
Background Programs and Videos
CBS Sunday Morning 50 Years after Tet Offensive 1968: WATCH (00:06:17)
CBS Tet Offensive documentary: WATCH (00:60:00)
Walter Cronkite editorial comments on Vietnam: LISTEN (00:02:00)
Mark Bowden op-ed about Walter Cronkite’s statement New York Times February 26, 2018: READ
NBC News Clip 50th Anniversary of the capture of the USS Pueblo
Robert Mitchell’s article on Johnson’s March 31, 1968 speech, The Washington Post: READ
Ron Elving’s Reflections on LBJ’s March Speech: READ and WATCH: Note: 1968 video is at bottom of article for video of 1968
PBS American Experience Program on My Lai Massacre excerpt, March 1968: WATCH (00:08:46)
Bill Kurtis “American Justice” TV Show on 1968 Chicago Riots and Chicago 7 Trial
CBS Sunday Morning 50th Anniversary show on RFK Assassination 1968
Apollo 8 orbits the moon and takes an iconic photo of Earth (NOVA excerpt): WATCH
Speeches
Bobby Kennedy’s “Time for the Truth (About Vietnam)” Speech in Chicago February 8, 1968: DOWNLOAD PDF (scroll to pages 69-70 in this PDF)
I don’t know what this speech was officially called, but it is about the need to finally put aside all the illusions about our military success in Vietnam and face the facts. There will not be a military victory if the South Vietnamese themselves don’t feel they have a stake in the fight.
The stimulus for the speech: the Tet Offensive. While RFK had come out against the war earlier, this was his strongest and most persuasive argument. He made it because the offensive showed just how disillusioned this country’s military and civilian leadership was about the war. They were even calling the brutal attacks across the country a victory. Yes, the Vietcong and North Vietnamese troops would suffer heavy losses and eventually lose the cities they held momentarily, but not before they had accomplished something no one had foreseen. Where was the so-called “light at the end of the tunnel” when the enemy could cause such destruction at will? This was a PR victory for the enemy.
The speech is one of the most effective arguments against the war made by a prominent politician. Kennedy identifies the many illusions and refutes them with the facts. The truth. Despite the increased number of American troops and repeated assurances that the war was being won, The Tet Offensive proved otherwise. He ends the speech with the lessons he gleans from the Tet Offensive.
The speech appeals to both the mind and the heart. And Kennedy reinforces his credibility to make his case because, as part of his brother’s administration, he supported the American commitment and predicted victory. But he has had a change of heart and needs to share his thinking with the nation.
For me, the most compelling part of his case is the concern he shows for the men who are fighting—and dying—in the war. (In a sense, it is reminiscent of Lincoln’s compassion for his soldiers in the Gettysburg Address.) RFK knows that anyone questioning our commitment or the fact that the war is winnable, will be attacked. How can you advocate getting out, after so many have already died? Yet, time and time again in the speech, he talks about the preciousness and sanctity of these lives. He states our immediate interest is to “protect the lives of our gallant young men…who are far more important than “the survival of the privileged class (in Vietnam), growing ever more wealthy from the corruption of war…”. He makes this point even stronger when he quotes the Vietnamese senator explaining his vote against drafting 18- and 19-year-olds, “Why should Vietnamese boys be sent to die for Americans?” Can you imagine hearing that after losing a son in the war?
Knowing that people are concerned about the nation’s image and standing if we were to seek a negotiated settlement, he again talks about those who are fighting there. He says, “We must show as much willingness to risk some of our prestige for peace as to risk the lives of young men in war.”
Finally, as he enumerates the truths that he sees coming out of the Tet Offensive, he says that “the best way to save our most precious stake in Vietnam—the lives of our soldiers—is to stop the enlargement of the war, and, the best way to end casualties is to end the war.”
After months of agonizing internal debate, Kennedy will enter the presidential contest five weeks after this speech. He was probably buoyed by the positive reception it got in some of the leading newspapers. Earlier antiwar speeches and statements were often poorly received because they weren’t as coherent as this one. But then, nothing like the Tet Offensive had happened before to cause people to question our government’s assurances of success.
LBJ Decision not to run March 31, 1968
While it shocked the nation that this consummate politician would not run again for our highest office, in hindsight, it seems almost inevitable given the various forces going against him—the surprise attacks on Vietnam’s cities in the Tet Offensive; the strong showing of Democratic challenger Senator Eugene McCarthy in the New Hampshire primaries and the late entry of his nemesis, Bobby Kennedy, into the ’68 presidential campaign. Also, we know, thanks to a new biography of Lady Bird Johnson, “Hiding in Plain Sight”, that the president had been ill and suffered from severe bouts of depression.
What we have in this speech is a seemingly tired and depressed president speaking to the nation about the ongoing war in Vietnam. He talks about the troop increases he has authorized—now approaching 500,000 Americans—and the additional commitment of South Vietnam soldiers to the conflict. But he also announces new overtures in the form of bombing restrictions to try to get the North Vietnamese government to the peace table. But he is steadfast in his commitment to the South Vietnamese and says that America will stay because we are committed to their independence and doing it for our national security. He quotes JFK’s “we will pay any price, bear any burden…” pledge from the latter’s Inaugural Address to emphasize (and perhaps help legitimize) this commitment. But then he quotes Lincoln to acknowledge the division that is occurring in the country over the war and the need for unity. To reinforce how important that unity is to him, he drops the bomb at the end of the speech when he says: “I shall not seek, and will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president.”
In some ways, it must have been very hard for Johnson to voluntarily step aside. But someone as politically astute as he was must have “read the room” and realized—after McCarthy’s near victory in the first primary and Kennedy’s entrance, that he would face a formidable challenge in the months ahead. He may have simply been beaten down by the pressures of the office and the realization that despite all the good he had accomplished in the early days of his presidency—the War Against Poverty, the passage of monumental Civil Rights and Voting Rights legislation—that he was now mostly associated with getting us deeper and deeper into an increasingly unpopular war and not the Great Society he wanted to be remembered for.
With the Tet Offensive, which had been planned for months, the North Vietnamese appear to have learned something from Martin Luther King—the power of television to arouse the public and put pressure on the politicians to change things. The Tet Offensive may not have won the war, but it certainly showed the American people that all the reassurances about the success of the American military effort could no longer be believed. The offensive even convinced America’s most trusted TV newsman, Walter Cronkite, that the war could not be won and the only way out was to negotiate a settlement.
Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have Been to the Mountaintop” Speech Memphis, April 3, 1968 (audio only)
Video Excerpts of MLK’s “Been to the Mountain Top” Speech April 3, 1968: (Note: less than perfect but worth watching)
Back in Memphis to support the garbagemen, the civil rights leader was supposedly under the weather and didn’t want to speak that night. Ralph Abernathy prevailed upon him to appear because the large crowd was expecting him. He came and delivered one of his most uplifting talks.
The irony, of course, of King’s speech is that the night before he’s killed, he basically prophesies his death by saying he may not be there when they reach the Promised Land. And that he is grateful to have been allowed to live at this time. In a sense, he’s delivering his own eulogy and issuing his final marching orders to his people. He urges them not to fight among themselves which sounds like he knows that they are going to be on their own. In this final speech, he repeats some of his favorite phrases, quotes, images, and verses.
Contrast the humor, exuberance, and the strength of his voice in this free-wheeling “sermon” with the somber and monotonal delivery of his prepared “Beyond Vietnam” speech. Granted, this is quite a different audience and setting than he had in New York the previous year.
King is in Memphis to provide encouragement. He inspires his audience by citing the past successes of public demonstrations. It has been a tough time. He praises all the clergy who have been leading the effort for the garbagemen. King’s own concerns have evolved to include economic issues, not just civil rights. He encourages his listeners to use their collective economic power to get fair treatment. He wants them to withdraw their economic support of those who aren’t supportive of the garbagemen. He names products not to buy. And exhorts them to support Black institutions.
The passionate preacher relishes telling the story of the Good Samaritan and, most important, making it relevant to those in that audience, making it their responsibility, like the Samaritan, to stop and help the garbagemen, not worry about their job, or their safety. Listen to the affirmations the preacher gets from his congregation, to reinforce that he is on the right track with what he’s saying. At the same time, you hear the scholar speaking here when he talks about “projecting the I into the Thou” alluding to Martin Buber. But it’s juxtaposed with his wonderful sense of humor talking about the supposed meeting in Jerusalem that the Levite and the priest were late for to explain them not stopping to help. But the real power of the parable is how he makes it personal to that particular audience at that moment in time. The question is not “What will happen to me…”. The question is “If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?”
Finally, he begins the peroration of the speech using anaphora beginning with “If I had sneezed…”. Like someone on his deathbed, he reviews his life and his role in the civil rights movement right up to that moment in Memphis. In a sense, this part of the speech echoes the flight through history he started the speech with. It’s a good way to end a speech; i.e., to bring completion by alluding to the beginning.
Again, at the very end, with his allusion to Moses not accompanying his people to the Promised Land, you can’t help but wonder what was on his mind that night. It’s almost fatalistic when he says “It really doesn’t matter what happens right now…”. “I am happy tonight…I am not worried about anything…”. With its ending on such a high note: “Mine eyes have seen the Glory of the Coming of the Lord,” it’s almost like a more mature man’s version of the “I Have a Dream” speech. A King Lear, if you will, to the earlier Prince Hamlet.
If I could only have one Dr. King speech to save and savor, I think this is the one I would choose. It is King at his improvisational and inspirational best.
Robert F. Kennedy Impromptu Eulogy of MLK 1968
RFK “Mindless Menace of Violence” speech 1968 (audio only)
RFK Mindless Menace of Violence Cleveland City Club April 5, 1968: WATCH
Impromptu Eulogy of MLK: Kennedy has finally entered the presidential race (March 16) and the first primary he can enter is Indiana’s where he has been campaigning when he gets the news that the civil rights leader has been shot. Before they land in Indianapolis, Kennedy learns that King has died. Rather than following the recommendations of the Mayor (later, Senator) Richard Lugar and the police chief to call off his rally in a Black area of the city, Bobby says he will go and talk to them. I don’t think he felt he had a choice. Having endured the loss of his brother to an assassin, he seems re-traumatized and must have felt compelled to go and empathize with the people waiting to hear him.
He has notes in his hand, but never refers to them. Rather, he chooses to speak from his heart and even share for the first time publicly the grief that he felt when the president was killed. What he says is unscripted and even illogical at times, but it is the truth. And the audience senses that. They even interrupt his remarks several times with applause. While there is no way to causally connect his speech with the absence of any rioting in Indianapolis when there were outbreaks all over the country that night, his short, sincere statement and his gentle manner probably helped prevent violence.
One of the things that strikes me most about his speech, hearing it again so many years later, is his concern for his listeners. He feels King’s death and he can sense how great their pain must be and he does all that he can to honor it, knowing from personal experience that he can do nothing to take it away. But he does share what helped him work through his grief and that’s the wisdom of the Greeks. He pauses for what seems like an inordinate amount of time to make sure that he gets the exact words of Aeschylus. While the quote might have gone over the heads of many in the audience—which seems to be largely comprised of young people—it’s a gift that he’s sharing with them. I can’t imagine anyone else at that time sharing a Greek dramatist, nor could I see any other white person having such a positive effect on a Black audience on that tragic night.
Listen carefully to the opening question that Kennedy asks one of his staff: “Do they know about Martin Luther King?”. That person says in response that they’ve basically left it up to him to break this shocking news. And he does, as compassionately as he can.
His speech the next day in Cleveland, “The Mindless Menace of Violence,” is one the most important speeches of the 60s in my opinion. Why? He captures the violence of the time and the sources of it far better than any other politician of the day. What he said in 1968 holds true to this day because he tapped into something that is universal, archetypal.
Who else could credibly say something like, “Violence breeds violence, repression breeds retaliation and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.” (Italics are mine)
In some ways, like King’s “Mountain Top” speech, Kennedy’s “Mindless Menace” speech is prophetic. Both men knew they were targets of violent people. Both had the courage to continue to speak out for what’s right and against what’s wrong. Just as King seemed to sense that he might not make it to the Promised Land, RFK said “our lives on this planet are too short….” Listen to the sadness in his voice when he delivers these words. In the next line, he repeats the word short as he talks about our lives on this earth as brothers (who) “share the same short moment of life….”
The important words in any speech are the ones that are repeated. The theme of this speech is our common humanity and the need to come together to overcome violence. To convey that theme, he uses “common” at least eight times in the speech.
The speech was prepared overnight by two of his speechwriters who cobbled together something surprisingly coherent from earlier RFK speeches; notably, his “Tiny Ripple of Hope” speech. He quotes Lincoln’s famous “the ballot or the bullet” line and alludes to the latter’s Second Inaugural when he says “bind up the wounds among us”. He uses the “rule of threes” as well as anaphora, alliteration, antithesis, and images. The most poignant image is of the fabric that people have painfully woven together being torn apart by others. The anaphora beginning with successive statements starting with “Surely” was meant to be the conclusion of the speech, but Kennedy added the Tennyson quote on the spot. It was a favorite of both he and the late president. This is a speech consisting of poetry and uttered in pain. This is no political speech, but the words of a prophet about good and evil. Love and hate. Right and wrong.
There’s no mention of King’s death or the riots in the nation’s cities that followed, but a universal condemnation of violence. Regardless of who causes it. Regardless of the form it takes. It’s a common enemy and only a common effort can end it.
(Note: the video containing the speech is fairly disjointed because it covers the whole visit to Cleveland. It even seems like some of the film is out of sequence. But it is worth watching. To hear the speech unencumbered by distracting visuals, listen to it.)
Teddy Kennedy’s Eulogy of Bobby Kennedy June 8, 1968: WATCH (00:09:50)
The first thing that I notice looking at the speech again is how young—thirty-six—Ted Kennedy was when he gave it. And how broken up he was about Bobby’s death. He’s lost all his brothers—the oldest to war and the other two to assassins’ bullets. You hear it in his voice breaking up as he tries to deliver the words. It’s also apparent in the fact that in order to get through it he has to read the speech from a text and most of the words are Bobby’s—a quote about his father and a very long excerpt from the latter’s “Tiny Ripple of Hope” speech. It’s too hard, the grief too raw, to use his own words and speak without a script. Toward the end of the speech, he seems to lose it as he tries to say what Bobby meant to him, but again, the deceased’s words help him get through it. The final RFK quote is a paraphrase of George Bernard Shaw and one which RFK ended all his campaign speeches with.
The speech is notable for its two rhythmic triads—“(He gave us) strength in time of trouble, wisdom in time of uncertainty, sharing in time of happiness” and “ (a good and decent man) who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.” Listen to the pleasing balance in these lines because of their repeated phrases.
I am still trying to track down who wrote the speech for him. But those lines above sure sound like something that Ted Sorensen would write.
Interesting to speculate that Teddy’s own tragedy—the Chappaquiddick party the following year that ended in the drowning of a young woman who worked for him—might be traced to the death of his brother.
Clip of Abe Ribicoff Nominating George McGovern at 1968 Democratic Convention 1968
In this short clip, we see the Senator depart from his text to accuse Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, host of the convention, for using “Gestapo tactics” (a tongue-twister which he stumbles over) to respond to the anti-war protests. Watch the reaction of the angry Mayor and his cronies as they yell back at him.
Apollo 8 Christmas Eve 1968 Reading 1968
The three astronauts (Lovell, Anders, and Borman) said it themselves: what better words could they use to describe what they were experiencing—the first humans to circle the moon and see the earth rise from their unique vantage point? With that size audience, on that occasion, you better say something meaningful. And memorable.
Buck Benedict 