President John F. Kennedy increased U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, sending 16,000 advisors in 1963, up from the 900 that President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent. Lyndon B. Johnson significantly escalated involvement, raising the number of American troops in Vietnam to 100,000 in 1965, and eventually to more than 500,000 combat troops in 1968 with no tangible results and with increasing opposition and protests at home. When Richard M. Nixon was elected in 1968, he promised to end the conflict, claiming he had a secret plan. The massacre by American troops of between 347 and 504 Vietnamese villagers, exposed in November 1969, heightened opposition to the war, especially among younger people around the country. The nature of military participation also changed on December 1, 1969, when the first draft lottery since World War II took place. The new procedure eliminated deferments allowed in the initial draft process, leaving many college students and teachers vulnerable to the draft.
