Why Was 1968 A Turning Point In The Vietnam War

He tried his best not to lose the war because he does not want American war to be the loser. The United States troops were completely pulled back from Vietnam before the finish of March of 1973, yet America continued battling in Cambodia. North Vietnam did not respond to US notices and before the year 's over Nixon stayed weak after Watergate. In his article, the author said that Nixon tried to protect the Thieu administration in South Vietnam and let South Vietnam on the safe side because he needed the Thieu government to be secure. North Vietnam needed to have a unity but South Vietnam strived to be a free country. Nixon 's mission was to help and support the nations that are US partners such as South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, but other nations would need to shield themselves from the communism. When Nixon attempted to stay faithful to his obligation to the Thieu government in South Vietnam, Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger needed to proceed onward to different United State interests gradually. The purpose for these spending is to secure the Thieu government in South Vietnam. In his article, the author said that Nixon’s administration shows how much Kissinger feel afraid from the Negotiations that are full of twists. Despite the hostility between United State and North Vietnam, Nixon still threatening them that he doesn’t want to pay the amount if they do not want to adhere to the guarantee of the understanding, but when Richard Nixon resigned, the

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.

How significant was the Tet Offensive in achieving a communist victory in Vietnam by 1975?

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

The Tet offensive was when the Viet Kong decided to attack on the week of Tet. Tet was similar to our new years and in the previous years neither side of the war had ever fought on that day. Suddenly Tet came and we (the United States) was being attacked. This played a huge role in society. Eventually this lead to Cronkite announcing that this war was not winnable, it also lead to LBJ announcing that he would not run again for president. Both of these were a wake up call to the United States basically letting them know that we are way further in on the war then we had expected. This also stated that we could not win the war, making more and more riots happen at home. No one wanted the United States at war anymore for they thought that they were there for no reason and we weren't going to win so why not come home? Tet Offensive also impacts the following topics.

     The Vietnam War was one of the most influential wars in American History. The United States did not actually lose, but ending with a cease fire was considered a loss. When all of the troops returned they were looked upon by the American public scornfully. This caused both the troops and the American citizens to dislike the government. Many riots took place and many public displays happened. "...in response to a drive by the North Vietnamese forces into the South, President Richard M.

The Vietnam War was the first major war American’s had suffered defeat. The Vietnam war was a war of confusion, competition and biasness. The outcome of the war was far greater than an upset American nation, but a severe breakdown of the Vietnamese culture, economy, environment and government. It also had a tremendous impact on American society even up to present day. It was unclear from the beginning of the war if the American’s should even be involved. It was a war between Northern and Southern Vietnam but the U.S saw it as an indirect way to challenge the USSR’s sphere of influence in Southern Asia and to prevent the domino effect and the further spread of communism. The Vietnam War completely changed the way the United States

The Vietnam war brought many changes to the United States in the 1960’s and the 1970’s. Some of the changes were for the better of the country, take the rediscovered Women’s Rights movements and the ever growing Free Speech movements inspired by New Left, while most of the other changes brought on tensions between government and their people. The Domino Theory pushed our leaders to the edge. In order to stop the Domino Theory in Vietnam, the U.S. invaded. The war was useless for the American government to get involved with. Even Robert Kennedy described our presence in Vietnam as ‘... sending a lion to halt an epidemic of jungle rot.’ (Doc E) From new groups forming to rebel, to inflation and loss of trust in the Government, from 1960’s to

The Vietnam War is still a very controversial subject to this day. Whether or not we won is still being debated, but during 1968 there were many significant events that took place involving the Vietnam War. The most significant would probably be the “Tet Offense”. On January

Considered one of the worst wars fought in American history, the Vietnam War created many controversies and casualties: a total of 58,000 American soldiers were killed and 304,000 wounded; almost 1,400,000 North and South Vietnamese were killed in action (Woods 9). Generally, people believed that the South Vietnamese would win with U.S. help. The turning point of the war, the Tet Offensive, was a campaign created by North Vietnam to regain initiative in the war by attacking South Vietnamese government and military sites on the Tet holiday (lunar new year). The

Although the Tet offensive was one of America’s greatest tactical victories, however it was a great political loss for the Americans. America saw a victory and a loss, tactically America won while politically America suffered a drastic loss. The attack intensified the anti-war movement in America, it also discredited U.S. president Lyndon Johnson and the U.S. military officials. The Tet offensive was a great representation of a major turning point politically and socially against the Americans. When asked on the involvement of American troops in the Vietnam War, Charles De Gaulle stated “I predict… that you will, step by step, be sucked into a bottomless military and political quagmire”

Richard Nixon in the midsummer of 1969 declared the first U.S. troop withdraw. Nixon insisted that all North Vietnamese soldiers along with any Vietcong troops to leave South Vietnam; Nixon also wanted the new leader of South Vietnam, Nguyen Van Thieu, to stay in power. The North Vietnamese demanded that the U.S. pulls out all troops and they would have a secret meeting with Thieu that the Vietcong would still have power in the country. Nixon had National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger working on a plan to end the war with less violence to U.S. troops. This plan became known as Vietnamization. Vietnamization was used to pull U.S. troops out of Vietnam slowly and letting the South Vietnam government take more power. While Vietnamization was

Then, on January 31, 1968, the North Vietnamese Army, supported by the Vietcong, launched the Tet Offensive, a series of surprise attacks on cities and towns throughout South Vietnam. Militarily, American forces repelled the attacks and retook the cities initially occupied by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong. However, television portrayed the attack as an appalling defeat for the United States. In addition, the Tet Offensive made the brutality of the war very visible to Americans as the viewing public watched graphic footage of a prisoner being shot through the head by a South Vietnamese general.