President Johnson was so disillusioned with the war he did not seek re-election. The Republicans won the 1968 election and Richard Nixon became President. Fairly soon he started ‘Vietnamization’ – pulling out US troops and getting ARVIN’S to do the fighting. The everyday sight on the news of Americans coming home in body-bags was hitting the government's support for the war.

Another serious blow to the US credibility came with the exposure of the My Lai massacre (March 1968).  Hushed up at the time and only discovered by a tenacious journalist, this involved the killing of 400 men, women and children by US troops. 

It came as a terrible shock to the US public and was a powerful boost to the huge peace movement who wanted the war stopped. Huge protests brought together the various direct-action movements.