The Vietnam War was one of the most important wars in America’s history and one that had one the most amounts of casualties. It was the first televised war and the first war where it looked like America couldn’t easily win. The record in the previous wars, the USA was undefeated if you don’t count the Civil War. In both World Wars, the Allies which the U.S. was a part of were victorious both times. The Korean War occurred before Vietnam and it was the first time when they didn’t win, they basically called it a draw.
Since the U.S. didn’t win by beating the Communists, the government and the President didn’t want to lose another war in Asia. This made winning this war at all costs the main goal; and the huge amounts of soldiers deployed and killed. It also had taken place over 5 president’s terms: Dwight Eisenhower, John F Kennedy, Lyndon B Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford. Since you had five presidents overseeing the war it meant you could have five different kinds of views on how to win, or when to stop, or continue what the previous administration had been doing. There wasn’t always a correct answer.
There also was a president’s assassination and impeachment which makes this time period during the war unique. In my own personal opinion there are two kinds of things that helped shaped the war to its end. The aspect that involved an individual is the three assassinations that occurred during the war and two in the year of 60s’s, 1968, and Walter Cronkite’s 360 spin of his opinion on the war. The aspect that wasn’t an individual person was the “Tet Offensive”. That was a critical turning point in the war as we lost many soldiers that day. Also the advancement of TV impacted how America’s view changed on the war.
One of the biggest conspiracies is about who killed JFK and what would have been different if he didn’t get assassinated and could have finished his term. Usually the Republicans want war and want more soldiers as you see the difference between Bush and Obama. It was present then with Eisenhower getting to the war in the first place and then you had two Democrats in office until Nixon took over.
JFK wasn’t real sure on how he wanted to handle the war. He thought the Green Berets were enough and didn’t think we needed so much fighting power to handle the Communists. The hope was that he wouldn’t send that many troops but with Johnson in charge he had a different mind frame then JFK.
So I think that once JFK was assassinated the government and having Johnson in charge changed our goals on what they wanted to do. The year that really sums up the 60s is 1968, when the Tet Offensive occurred and many more major historical events also occurred before 1968. With all the assassinations along with all the deaths in Vietnam it changed the mindset of the citizens of America. It changed our view that we weren’t invincible that we can lose a war and lose presidents or important leaders in our country.
Robert Kennedy was looked as a savior from what Johnson was doing in office with the increased amount of soldiers and increased amount of casualties. With Kennedys and Martin Luther both being killed it changed our perspective on the war which led to protests and draft dodgers. The whole African Americans community rioted when the news of MLK’s death came. What do you expect them to do when the government wants them to be drafted and go overseas to defend the country when MLK was killed? With the country distraught over the assassinations and all the deaths in the war, Johnson decided not run again which paved the way for a new party to take over. America wanted a new voice maybe the one that ends the war or at least make some headway towards that goal.
One of the biggest turning points was when critically acclaimed news anchorman Walter Cronkite changed his opinion on the war. Back then you only had a few stations showing television programs and the news you either got from him or the other news anchormen. In the states they would only show the clips on only the good news, and it would make the American people believe that the war was going along fine as if we were winning. It wasn’t until this war when they saw all the carnage. Also, what happened in the Tet Offense with all the dead American soldiers did it finally start to change people’s perception on the war.
Cronkite was like everyone else watching and seeing what America fed us and he was shocked like the rest of the American public. With Cronkite being one of the most respected news anchors ever, people back then would feel if he says it, it’s the truth and that’s how it is. With his 360 spin on his opinions it led to more Americans believing the war should end. When he gave his report he showed us what was really happening and that we shouldn’t have been fighting this war because we were losing with no way to win. One famous line he said was, “Who won and who lost in the great Tet Offensive against the cities? I’m not sure. The Viet Cong did not win by a knockout, but neither did we.” He went on to say, “It seems now more certainty than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in stalemate.”
I really do think four people shaped how the war was perceived or affected. When the current president gets assassinated the nation is in shock and distracts from what’s going on overseas and you’re not sure how the new guy will be. Johnson was his Vice President, but they were drastically different people with different views. Johnson wasn’t his first choice to be VP so you never really felt they were on the same page as you saw with the dramatic changes Johnson made in the country besides his polices about the war.
He wanted for the country to be the “great society”, so Johnson increased the number of soldiers and was really committed to the war. It looked like a huge impact on the war when the people in charge are different and have different views. His decision not to run again after being president for 6 years was affected by how the war was going and with the high body counts and reports from Cronkite that got to him.
He had failed as the President in the matter of dealing with the war; that it was too much for him which would affect what would happen with the rest of the war. It then led to a false sense of hope that Bobby Kennedy would run for President and save us from losing all the people in the war. With his death the Democrats no longer had a strong candidate which led to Nixon winning the election, changing how the war was handled. His plan as we all know was to bomb the hell out of the North Vietnamese territories and the bordering countries to cut them off from the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
The major event that took place was as I mentioned before was the Tet Offensive. It was the one of the highest casualties for the United States with 111,179, from all the three phases of the offensive. That was a turning point in the nation’s minds that we are losing this war with staggering numbers unlike the wars before.
It ignited the beginning of more riots around the country protesting the war. Ho Chi Minh and leaders in Hanoi planned the Tet Offensive in the hopes of achieving a decisive victory that would end the grinding conflict that frustrated military leaders on both sides. A successful attack on major cities might force the United States to negotiate or perhaps even to withdraw. The only good news was that the United States and South Vietnamese militaries did almost eliminate the NLF forces that were responsible for all of the lost territory.
This was about the time in 1968, the critical year for all of the 1960s in a nutshell that changed many things for not just the nation’s opinion on the war, but for changing the opinions of the current administration that year. Johnson’s gut reaction was to make a peace treaty to end all of this unneeded bloodshed.
But we all know that didn’t happen since the mind frame of all the presidents who oversaw the Vietnam War was “We can’t lose another war in Asia.” It was the same gut feeling the United States had when they got bombed in Pearl Harbor while we all were sleeping. You would think Ho Chi Minh would honor the holiday of his people as both sides would have a cease fire for the day, but with all bad guys they play dirty they play by their own rules.
The Tet offensive was directly or indirectly another cause that helped Nixon to become president. With both Kennedys being assassinated, The Tet Offensive causing Johnson to realize he couldn’t win this war; and wanting to not return as president after six long years of change in this country and change overseas.
With a bad crop of Democrats running Nixon had a clear path to taking over as President after failing before, and as Vice President for the first president who took United States into Vietnam, Eisenhower.
So the assassinations of the Kennedys/MLK and Tet Offensive were two of the major events that happened to change and shape the Vietnam War and its ending. With a new voice in office seeing things differently and being a part of the first regime that made the initial decision to enter Vietnam, was now back making decisions.
That led the nation behind Nixon. If he wanted to use nuclear weapons they were ok with it as long as it would end the war as soon as possible. It wasn’t like they were going to pull out all the way, it takes time to pull out of the war as we do in other countries where we still have troops.
The deaths of three major people and the United States losing a war that some people didn’t think they should have gotten into, with dead bodies and death counts from the Tet Offensive, played a major role in its outcome. Also, when one of the most respected newsman of the generation gives whole reports that were anti-war it created more reasons for riots and protests in addition to the Tet Offensive, plus a President who decides he is no longer capable of the job which leads to another President who brings the war to its final stages of fighting.