Title: The turning point: 1968 | Miller Center
Headings: The turning point: 1968
The turning point: 1968
TET
THE USS PUEBLO
"I SHALL NOT SEEK . . . "
"Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president."
MLK AND RFK: VIOLENCE AT HOME
King assassination phone calls
CHICAGO AND CHENNAULT
Chennault Affair phone calls
1. Lyndon Johnson and Richard Russell, 30 October 1968:
2. Lyndon Johnson and Everett Dirksen, 31 October 1968:
3. Lyndon Johnson and James Rowe, 1 November 1968:
4. Lyndon Johnson and Everett Dirksen, 2 November 1968
"And they oughtn’t to be doing this. This is treason."
5. Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, 3 November 1968
6. Lyndon Johnson, Clark Clifford, Jim Jones, Walt Rostow, and Dean Rusk, 4 November 1968
JOHNSON DEPARTS

Content: Johnson faced economic difficulties as well. He wanted to finance the war without putting spending for his Great Society programs on the chopping block. Nor did he want to increase taxes. But federal borrowing in a growing economy fueled inflation and added to an overall balance-of-payments deficit in the US economy, weakening the dollar. The pressures became a certifiable crisis when the need for gold to back the currency (the US is no longer on the gold standard) ran up against huge worldwide demand for the metal, leading to massive financial losses for the US government. Gallup polls revealed growing public skepticism about sending US soldiers to Vietnam
There were also political considerations looming in an election year. As the country and Congress continued to question the war, Senator Eugene McCarthy (D-MN) agreed to mount an intra-party challenge to Johnson as an anti-war candidate. In the March 12 New Hampshire primary, McCarthy received a shocking 42 percent of the vote to LBJ's 50 percent. Senator Robert Kennedy (D-NY), a frequent Johnson antagonist, then entered the race, making it abundantly clear that the president would not enjoy an incumbent's traditionally smooth road to the Democratic nomination, let alone another landslide victory in the general election November. After assessing these three factors—recent military success, growing public skepticism, and a fraught political environment—Johnson made a decision, which he announced to the nation in a prime-time speech on March 31.