Negative Effects Of The Tet Offensive

Such coverage, along with the vivid images that emerge on T.V. led to a serious rise in anti-war protest that was merely strengthened by the events of 1968. The Tet Offensive of 1968 marked the greatest conflict in beliefs of the United Stated government and the media. In January, North Vietnamese troops attacked the North cities of South Vietnam and the U.S. embassy in Saigon. The media and the television, however, portrayed the attack as a brutal defeat for the U.S, totally altering the outcome of the war at the very moment when government officials were publicly stating that victory in Vietnam was "just around the corner" (Wyatt 167)[8]. The media covered all the events that immediately followed the Tet Offensive and the American public began wondering whether this war could be won. Don Oberdorfer a Washington reporter said that “there’s no doubt Tet was one of the biggest events in contemporary American history, within two months the, American body politically turned around on the war. And they were significantly

The introductory attack began spectacularly during celebrations of the Vietnamese Lunar New Year and left global lungs breathless (Farber and Bailey 34-54). Widely seen as the turning point in the Vietnam War, the NLF and PAVN won an enormous psychological and propaganda-associated victory, which ultimately led to the loss of popular support for the War in the United States and the eventual withdrawal of American troops. Additionally, the events surrounding the Tet Offensive piloted American citizens to increased polarization. Attracting members from college campuses, middle-class suburbs, labor unions, and government institutions, the anti-war movement was swollen with aggrieved affiliates (Farber and Bailey 34-54). The observable pathos of the protesters delivered the distrust of a growing population to the White House doors; the budding doubt in governmental affairs was difficult to discard and impossible to ignore. Indisputably, the Tet Offensive of 1968 cleaved the fragile harmony of the public and birthed a political skepticism that continues to subsist in modern American minds.

The Tet Offensive had a major impact upon the outcome of the Second Indochina War, particularly due to the fact that it powerfully swayed public opinion in America of the Vietnam War. The American publics' option of the Vietnam War beforehand had been strongly leaning toward their involvement in favor of conscription. However after the devastating loss of the Tet offensive much exposure was not put onto the war effort and the losses incurred. Many stated that Tet was fruitless and futile, this is also partly due to the fact that there had been increased opposition to the use of conscription in the American mainstream media.

January 31, 1968 North Vietnamese attacked over 100 cities throughout South Vietnam on thirty-five of forty-four province capitals, thirty-six district towns, and many villages and hamlets. Dubbed the “Tet Offensive” because it coincided with the Vietnamese New Year’s holiday, Tet, was a turning point in the Vietnam War. Most historians agree that the Tet Offensive was the turning point in the Vietnam War as events shifted the role of United States involvement in Southeast Asia as the shock it produced was the catalyst that led to the reevaluation of U.S. policy. While intelligence failure contributed to the shift in the Vietnam War, most historians have disagreed on the role of the media in aiding the American public’s views against the war.

The increasing number of troops and military efforts involved with Vietnam and the seemingly optimistic reports reported by the government were the primary factors that caused the Tet Offensive and Counteroffensive. The American government had become increasingly involved with the Vietnam war. From 1965 to 1967, over 400,000 soldiers were sent to help the South Vietnamese forces. This massive increase in the amount of soldiers was frustrating to the American people. Johnson’s approval rating fell to a mere 40%, half of what it had been in 1965.  (“Vietnam War (1959-1975)” ; Axelrod 1). When the American soldiers returned home from Vietnam, it was often heard that they were spit on, and

On January 30, 1968, during Vietnam’s Tet celebration, VC and NVA units launched a immense attack in all of South Vietnam's provinces. They had struck 30 provincial capitals along with major cities Saigon and Hue. The Tet Offensive shocked Americans at home who thought the war near victory and the homefront support for war effort grew. CBS news reporter Walter Cronkite returned to Vietnam to see what was happening; He had been a war correspondent during World War II and reported from Vietnam when America was early involved. There was even a poll In 1972 that determined he was “the most trusted man in America.” On February 27, 1968 a broadcast summed up what he found during his return to the war zone. He closed by saying:“To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. On the off chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we must test the enemy’s intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp before negotiations. But it is increasingly clear to this

While conducting intelligence missions along the coast of Vietnam, the USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy were attacked by Viet Cong forces. This attack prompted President Johnson to go to Congress and The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed, which gave the President the ability to conduct military operations in Vietnam without actually declaring war. Early in the war, many U.S citizens and troops did not know where or what Vietnam was. They thought since Vietnam was insignificant there is no reason to intervene. This ideology would be one of the root causes of the anti-war movement that is to come. The mindset of the U.S troops was the same as every previous conflict, ‘We’ll be home by Christmas’. The The early strategy in Vietnam was to bomb the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong into submission. After bombing target areas, the U.S would send troops in to perform search and destroy missions. After attacking their target they would return to their base. During the night, the Viet Cong would return to the area the U.S attacked and it would generate a cycle in which the U.S bombs, sends ground units, and withdraws. The early campaign in Vietnam was filled with many top officials being very arrogant about their chances of winning the war. They thought the Vietnamese were essentially savages with makeshift weapons who posed no threat. As the war progressed it became clear the path to victory would not be an easy one. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong were holding strong against the American war machine and were even delivering decisive blows physically and to morale. With the North holding their own, the American Homefront was shifting. It was becoming clear America had no reason to be in Vietnam and the people were making it known through music and

1)"Although the some Americans still supported their government policy in Vietnam in 1965, as the war went on, more and more Americans turned against it. The Vietnam War had been described to the US public as one where the richest and most powerful country would have a lot of problems defeating one of the smallest and poorest countries in the world. The protests against the war started

The ‘Tet Offensive’ showed the first signs of the effect the media had in Vietnam, which led to the the question of “why did the audience see what they saw?” Firstly, unlike previous wars journalists had “extraordinary” freedom to cover Vietnam without any direct government intervention. Overtime this noticeably created a problem where the harsh brutal accounts from journalists differed from the positive optimism that United States Officials portrayed. The media was simply the messenger to the American people. But this was the first instance where technological advances had allowed a war to be played out on your own television screen every night of the week. The journalists reacted in the same way as the American public; they too were shocked beyond belief at the constant scenes of burning villages, bloody soldiers and lifeless bodies. These feelings came across in the broadcasts and like the ‘media effects theory’ explains, naturally Americans took up that same belief. This was the first time that the American public showed collective beliefs opposing to the war. To further push public opinion against the war, Hallin suggested that there was a “…declining morale among American troops in the field…”. The thirty-minute nightly

North Vietnam had long established that Communist forces would prevail; however, military reports led Americans to believe that the United States forces were successfully fighting against the Communists and a victory was on the horizon (Doc H). Through daily televised broadcasts of the Tet Offensive, the American people no longer believed that the Vietnam War would be a quick win. The United States forces were able to push back Communist advances, but not without heavy casualties on both sides. Citizens were weary of continuing a war if it meant that sons, husbands, and neighbors would be returning home in caskets. Many were doubtful that the US could even win the war at all. Television reporter Walter Cronkite commented on the Tet Offensive by asking America, “What the hell is going on? I thought we were winning this war,” to which President Johnson indirectly replied, “If I’ve lost Walter Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.” Lyndon B Johnson understood that public support for his war efforts were quickly diminishing, but to stay in the war left him in a quagmire. With the possibility of looking weak, President Johnson opted to continue the war, but at the expense of the public’s approval. Afraid of defeat, he did not campaign for reelection the following

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

public a different view on the war (7). Now, not only had attacks been made on the Army

There were two sides to how the war was felt by the American population: pro-war and anti-war. The side that overpowered the other in terms of popularity was the opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War. The quotation below briefly describes why the majority sided with

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.

Majority of the American public criticized the war because they believe that as powerful as the US is, bombing an underdeveloped small country like Vietnam