Study the factors that contribute to Tet Offensive, its impact
How did the Tet offensive change the war? On 19 October 1967, North Vietnam announced a seven-day ceasefire from January 27 to February 3, 1968, to celebrate Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. But in the late night hours of January 30, 1968, the ceasefire was broke and the Tet Offensive was launched by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against the South Vietnamese and American forces, the largest military operation conducted up to that point of the war.
The Communists attacked around 100 major cities and towns throughout South Vietnam, catching both the Americans and the South Vietnamese off guard and causing them to temporarily lose control of several cities. The
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By 1967, the anti-war movement intensified and President Johnson was under constant pressure from the public and even from within the government. The Americans have been involved in the Vietnam War for more than two years, committing more than 400,000 troops and the casualties kept increasing. Many Americans started to believe that the war had became a bloody stalemate and it was a mistake to send troops to Vietnam. Amid all the discontent, Johnson and his administration launched the “success offensive,” an effort to convince the people that American was winning the war and the government policies were succeeding. As part of this effort, government spokespersons and news media began reassuring the people with exaggerated positivity, supported with statistical report of the progress. President Johnson even brought home senior commander in Vietnam, General William Westmoreland to support their campaign. In public and private addresses, Westmoreland affirmed that the US and allied forces were making significant progress against the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army, winning major battle and inflicting heavy casualties on the NVA and main force VC units. During a discussion with an interviewer from Time magazine, Westmoreland even challenged the communists to launch an attack, which did happened in a short time
The war in Vietnam to do this day has gone down as one of the influential and controversial wars in United States history. The war lasted from 1955 to 1975.The nation as a whole began to uproar over the war and the major consequences of the war. There were many reasons why so many Americans were against the war. Public opinion steadily turned against the war following 1967 and by 1970 only a third of Americans believed that the U.S. had not made a mistake by sending troops to fight in Vietnam (Wikipedia). Not to mention, many young people protested because they were the ones being drafted while others were against the war because the anti-war movement grew increasingly popular among the counterculture and drug culture in American society and
Furthermore, United States’ support in Vietnam was initially supposed to be limited to training support (source A). As even United States president, Lyndon Johnson, was aware of the potential escalation of the war in Vietnam if American military forces were to involve themselves in the Vietnamese conflict. President Johnsons statement that “… we could get tied down in a third world war” (source A) substantiates the idea that America feared the worldwide consequence of American support in Vietnam (Source A). Contrary to this however,
Sorley argued that the United States won the war militarily, but lost the war due to domestic reasons. In January of 1964, General William C. Westmoreland became a successor in command of U.S. forces in Vietnam (1). Westmoreland went by a search-and-destroy tactic. With a large amount of failure on the battlefield, a new commander was brought in. On April 10th of 1968, General Creighton Abrams was announced as the commander-designate in Vietnam.
In 1963, Lindon B. Johnson inherited the White House from John F. Kennedy as well as the Vietnam War. Johnson vowed to not lose the war as he saw a Communist Asia would form if he failed to act correctly. When the counter insurgency in Vietnam began to fail, due to the Diem Coup, Johnson immediately increased America’s political and military presence in Vietnam. While being fully aware of the reports and documents he was given, he decided to intentionally mislead Congress as well as the public on America’s position in the war. Johnson and his administration knew that entering the war would be expensive and consuming, but they had motives to do so anyways.
The Vietnam war had been nicknamed ‘Johnson’s war’, which automatically put Nixon at an advantage over Humphrey, who was Johnson’s Vice President and still supported the war. This influenced Nixon’s election as many democrats turned away from Humphrey and used Nixon as an anti-war alternative. Humphrey’s stance led Nixon’s popularity to increase nationwide as, although relatively anti-civil rights, Nixon appealed to Afro-Americans like Martin Luther King, who had clashed with Johnson over the war. Nixon’s anti-war policies caused him to gain support from many unlikely areas of the USA, along with those in the silent majority that he originally targeted, leading him to be elected as President in
Communal opposition to the war increased. Policy decisions about Vietnam got influence by public protest. Early 1970s with Australia withdrawal from Vietnam on the way was the cause of nation wide protest by the name of moratorium marches. This protest took place in Australia’s major city’s even though all the protest Australia played follow the leader with America to get in the front lead after America decided to disengage from the war Australia was left with no other choice but to . Early 1968 Tet Offensive was establish by Viet Cong.
The 1960’s and early 1970’s was a period when America was involved in many conflicts overseas, including the Vietnam War. This began a time when media spread quickly as well as influenced the public heavily and wars were first televised. These conflicts ultimately caused citizens to protest and question the motives of the federal government. A large number of these protestors were students who sought to combat problems through various tactics to get authority figures to remedy the problems they identified. Student protestors sought to combat many immediate and long-term problems involving this time period and the Vietnam War.
President Lyndon Johnson 's continued support for the South Vietnamese was a culmination of misunderstandings and misconceptions throughout the war. Johnson inherited a difficult issue from Kennedy, and his choices were few and crucial. The United States entered the war confident of, if not certain of, success. However, a small-scale military effort quickly expanded into a vast military crisis. Events of Vietnam locked the United States onto a path of immense military intervention and ultimately destroyed Johnson 's presidency.
Also, newspapers revealed stories and government secrets that proved that the American people were being lied to ( New York Times vs. the United States). The Vietnam war is believed by some to be a war deeply rooted in economics. Many aspects of the United States were affected directly. The Great Society programs were suffering because the money that was put towards the war, could have been used to help poverty programs.
Walter Dean Myers once stated that “One of the lessons learned during the Vietnam War was that the depiction of wounded soldiers, of coffins stacked higher than their living guards, had a negative effect on the viewing public. The military in Iraq specifically banned the photographing of wounded soldiers and coffins, thus sanitizing this terrible and bloody conflict.” The Vietnam War, fought in 1955 to 1975, was the longest war in American history. This war was a conflict between the Communist North Vietnam and its ally Viet Cong, and South Vietnam and its ally the United States. During the Vietnam war, tensions in the United States were extremely high.
In using artillery and air power of weapons like the M163 Vulcan, M42A1 Skysweeper, and the MIM23 Hawk we were able to take down our enemies. There was 2.7 million soldiers that served in the Vietnam War. In this being said there were 58,000 that died or remained missing, and 300,000 that were wounded. More than one hundred forty billion dollars was spent on this war. The U.S failed to overcome its objective of preserving an independent, noncommunist state in Vietnam, now no one knows how or why we fought this war or weather the military outcome was possible for the United States.
One of the most controversial wars in history and a turning point in American foreign policy, the emotions and events surrounding the Vietnam War capture the essence of the era. The rise of rebellious youth culture and anti-war and anti-draft movements were key social aspects of American life leading up to and during the fighting. (Doc 2, 3) On the political side, Congress aimed to control the Chief-Executive with legislation such as the War Powers Act of 1973, requiring the president to remove all unreported troops in Vietnam and report any further sent. (Doc 7) To say the country was divided would be a massive understatement.
1. What problems did the United States face in the Vietnam War? As the United States struggled against communism in Vietnam, it would face many problems. In the late 1950’s President Eisenhower and later President Kennedy sent military supplies and advisers to South Vietnam. Despite the American aid the Vietcong grew stronger with support from North Vietnam.
In his essay, Hills explains how Nixon evokes the intended response from the immediate audience by gaining support for the war. Nixon states in his speech, “tonight-to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans-I ask for your support.” Here, Nixon uses resentment in sacrifice in lives and finance, longing for some action in a marked direction were strategies used to gain support instead of “teaching.” This in turn allowed America to continue in the war which proves that he agrees with Foss for Nixon’s primary role was not that of a teacher or