Comparing Kent State And The Living Room War

The events at Kent State were a catalyst that helped strengthened the American Citizens’ hatred of the Vietnam War and distrust in the Government that promised to end the war.

These protests affected the government’s decision on rolling thunder and on the 31 March 1968 Lyndon B. Johnson announced that there would be no more bombing above the 20th parallel. Although Lyndon B. Johnson reduced the amount of bombs being dropped, the bombs themselves had caused huge devastation to Vietnam and by ‘1970 the Americans had dropped more bombs on Vietnam than they had on any other previous target’ . These protests had caused more uproar in 1970 at Kent state university national guards openly shot at protesters killing them; this helped destroy the governments mandate even more by more American citizens questioning the mandate of the containment policy.

The Vietnam War was not only fought on the battle field, but also in the cities and on the college campuses of The United States of America. The author, David Maraniss describes through the novel, in finicky detail, both the ruthless ambush of the Black Lion battalion near Lai Khe, Vietnam, in this instance sixty-one soldiers were massacred, and an antiwar protest that takes place at the University of Wisconsin. Rallying against the drafting of students on campus by company that manufactured napalm.

In response to the tragedy and the Cambodia invasion, mass rallies were held in almost every major city in that month. The elite demographic, which includes doctors, lawyers and other professionals also flooded into Washington to display their opposition not only to the war but the increasing domestic violence. The incident dramatically affected Americans and it was further indicated through public opinion polls, which pointed blame towards the National Guard. To many Americans, the domestic upheaval following Cambodia and Kent State suggested that the country was becoming unhinged according to Melvin Small. Newspapers such as the New York Times suggested that the United States was as divided as it had been since the Civil War. Individuals that would identify themselves as pro-war now felt that the war’s cost in terms of domestic consequence outweighed the benefits of continuing the war. The White House was now in full damage control following the Kent State shootings. Public opinion polls showed a 31 percent approval for the war following the Kent State massacre. In response, White House officials anxiously discussed how to contain the uproar. According to David Anderson and John Ernst in their book titled, “The War That Never Ends: Student Opposition to the Vietnam War,” White House officials agreed that it was important to avoid steps that would further

On May 1 1970 a massive demonstration was held at Kent State, on the Commons (a grassy area in the center of campus that is used as a gathering place for rallies) and another one was planned for May 4. The students were angry and there were many who were calling to "bring the war home."

By 1968, more than half of the American people relied on television as their principal source of news. What they saw informed, engrossed, and unsettled them. CBS Evening News anchor Harry Reasoner referred to it as “horrors and failures.” The Vietnam War dominated the network newscast as it never had before. Suddenly the war was everywhere. The impact on the American public would indeed be great. It set off a critical reaction to the war within the American media and gave greater credence to arguments against the war that a vocal protest movement had been voicing for some time. The media coverage of the Tet Offensive had a great influence on the eventual outcome of the fighting and its aftermath. Clarence Wyatt, author of Paper

On April 30, 1970 President Nixon had officially announced that the United States was going to war in Vietnam. The next day a huge group of students at Kent State University, in Ohio, were protesting. As well as many other students at different Universities across the country. Everyone was protesting the bombing that was happening in Cambodia as well as the United States involvement the Vietnam War. What started as a somewhat peaceful protest, turned very violent. The students at Kent State set the ROTC building on fire. The local police force was called in which did not do much help. Kent’s Mayor called the Governor of Ohio, James Rhodes, and asked to send help. Rhodes sent The Ohio National Guard to Kent State. When the national guard got

The Kent State shooting played a major role in Nixon’s resignation from presidency and the public’s opinion of the Vietnam War. The students that were protesting started when Nixon announced intervention into Cambodia. Outraged students met on campus the very next day to show that they didn’t agree with the presidents decision. During the shooting students threw containers of tear gas back at the guardsmen. Some students threw rocks as the soldiers left. Protestors would shout “Pigs Off Campus!” (Axelrod et al. 256) Many of the soldiers sent to settle the frustrated protestors were weekend warriors who chose the guard to avoid ending up in Vietnam. Mandy soldiers lacked training for combat and crowds. Most soldiers were confused by the actions of the students and weren’t sure how to react. The student protestors refused the guards orders to disperse which resulted in the guardsmen throwing tear gas toward the rioting protestors. The protestors consisted of upper class and middle class residents.

During war, chaos occurs when there is conflict between the people and the authority of a country. The Vietnam War was a time of extreme disagreement between the government and the people. People of the United States did not want to be involved in the Vietnam war and felt very passionate about this. On May 4, 1970 students at Kent State protested the war. Feeling that the protest was becoming wild, the National Guard was called in. The protest did not die down, so the soldiers shot about fifteen people. Four students were killed and at least nine were injured. This shooting caused a great quantity of chaos and argument among the people, government, and media. All three have different views of what took place. The people view it as

Kent State was like any other university in America in the 70s. Students were there to expand their knowledge while they explored all the other abundant things college had to offer them. Along with several other universities at the time, Kent State began seeing a rise in student protests. Many students around the U.S. began speaking out against the controversial Vietnam War, showing their anti-war views in hopes of being heard. “In late April of 1970 . . . the United States invaded Cambodia and widened the Vietnam War,” causing even more widespread outrage and anger, especially among youth (Lewis, Hensley, “The May 4 Shootings at Kent State Univeristy: the Search for Historical Accuracy”). As the days went on after this declaration was made, the

The Vietnam War began in 1955, but it wasn’t until the 1960’s that the nation witnessed large protests against the war. A process called the draft sent many men over to fight against the communists in Vietnam. This “draft” meant that many men would not have a choice about whether or not they wanted to participate in the war. The U.S. government made that determination for them. Twenty years of combat, in some of the worst conditions possible, resulted in the loss of many American soldiers. There were many protests in the United States that helped open the nations eye towards protesting and how protests affect the war. The Kent State massacre was a big turning point for protests, it made many Americans see that the protests were not just hippies, and people of drug culture spreading peace, but a powerful movement to

Before this incident occurred President Richard Nixon announced on April 30, 1970 that the United States had invaded Cambodia and needed to draft 150,000 soldiers. This provoked countless protest on many campuses around the country. One of the most eventful protest during this time was at Kent State University on May 4, 1970. At the time of the protest twenty-eight guardsmen fired at a crowd wounding nine students and killing four (“Kent State Incident,” n.d.). But the Justice Department declined an investigation on the incident. Instead the President Commision on Campus unrest did state that the action of the guardsmen was uncalled for and unwarranted. No charges were given to the guardsmen who fired at the crowd because there was not enough evidence provided (“Kent State Incident,” n.d.). Protest can become dangerous depending on the

On April 30th, 1970 the current president Richard Nixon announced that the American forces would expand the Vietnam War into Cambodia. The expansion angered many Americans and a demonstration was held on May 1st on Kent State University and then later agreed to be held again on May 4th. Beside the Universities efforts to ban the gathering, two thousand students attended to protest the Vietnam war. The Ohio Army National Guard was called to the university to disperse the crowd. The crowd retaliated with throwing rocks and other

The investigation assesses the media coverage of the Tet Offensive and its impact on American policy concerning the Vietnam War from 1968 until 1969. The investigation evaluates the contrast between media broadcasts and government reports of the war, the effect of the media on the American public, and the effect of American public opinion on President Lyndon B. Johnson’s course of action. Two of the sources, Vietnam and America: A Documented History by Marvin E. Gettleman, Jane Franklin, Marilyn Young, and H. Bruce Franklin, and The “Uncensored War”: The Media and Vietnam by Daniel C. Hallin are examined.

The coincidence of the growth of television with the first military defeat for America was used by the government to explain why the war was lost: it wasn’t because of government policy or by underestimating the enemy but because television journalism and lack of censorship that undermined the whole operation “by ‘graphic and unremitting distortion’ of the facts, pessimism, and unvarnished depiction of both Americas youthful casualties and American ‘atrocities’ inflicted on the Vietnamese.” The amount of televisions in America was on the increase; ‘In 1950, only 9 percent of homes owned a television. By 1966, this figure rose to 93 percent.’ This alone shows the sheer coverage that the news had and the potential influence that it could impose upon the minds of the people. Not only did more people have television sets in their homes but more and more people were relying on television over any other medium to obtain their news. The survey conducted by the Roper organisation for the Television Information Office in 1972 shows us that 64% of people got most of their news from television, an 8% increase from the survey conducted in 1964. Another factor in the power of television was not just the fact that it reached a wide audience, it was also the fact that people were more likely to believe what the television news said over reports in the newspaper or radio, especially if the reports were conflicting in nature. This was due to two factors; the personality who