Part A: What was the impact and the significance of the Tet Offensive on the course of the Vietnam

War? The US entered the Vietnam War in 1965. They were having a high success, with 500,000 troops fighting in Vietnam, and had killed 100,000 of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). It was the general opinion that the US war would be won quickly. The Tet Offensive occurred on January 31st 1968. 70,000 Vietcong attacked 100 towns and cities during the Vietnamese Tet festival, surprising the South Vietnamese Army who were mostly on leave. Initially, many of the towns and cities were captured, however, by the end of the day they were all regained by the US. In reality, the Tet Offensive was a success to America. A total of 1, 536 were killed between the US, Korea and Australia, compared to the 45, 000 killed between the and Vietcong. The NVA Commander General Tran Do admitted We didn't achieve our main objective, which was to spur uprisings throughout the South...As for making an impact in the United States, it had not been our intention. Indeed, many feel that the Tet Offensive signified the beginning of the end of the war for the NVA, as Douglas Welsh said in 1990 Many observers believed it was their last massive effort, and, having been repulsed, their losses were do great that they would never again be able to mount an offensive on such a scale. This indicates that afterwards, the US should have had an easy victory. However, the Tet Offensive seemed to be a turning point in public support for the Vietnam war, due to the negative media coverage given. The media had a high influence over public opinion in America, in particular the anchorman Walter Cronkite. Previously, the media coverage had shown the US to be successful, with Ronal Reagan stating in 1965 We could pave the whole country and put parking stripes on it and still be home for Christmas. However, afterwards, the media displayed footage showing heavily damaged buildings ect. to the public, although they did not display the mostly unaffected areas, leading the public to believe that it was a failure. One reporter claimed Vietcong wont submit, leading the public to believe that they were fighting back strongly. Walter Cronkite was overheard saying What the hell is going on, and afterwards opposed the Vietnam War, supporting Nixon over Johnson in the next election. This heavily affected politics in America, as Johnson decided in 1968 not to stand in the next election, citing If Ive lost Cronkite, Ive lost America. Indeed, he was extremely unpopular, mostly due to the media coverage on him and the war, and Nixon came into power in 1969 with the widest margin of any U.S election. He had promised Americans he would end the war, wanted to end the war as soon as possible, which contributed heavily to the US pulling out of the war in 1973, without launching any final major attacks. This media coverage also affected congress, which, eager to stay in power after the looming election, refused the request for an additional 200,000 troops to the US army. Those extra troops may well have lead to the US winning, as up until then the US were winning the war.

However, there were other factors contributing to the unpopularity of the Vietnam War, which imply that the Tet Offensive was not so much of a turning point. The My Lai Massacre hit the news in 1969, and many Americans were repulsed by the brutal attack. This contributed to the Kent State Massacre in 1970, when four Students protesting were shot dead by the National Guard.

In Conclusion, the Tet Offensive itself did not have that large an impact on the war, but the negative media coverage meant that it had a high impact on public opinion. Although there was already some opposition, like...