Tet Offensive Research Paper

Improved Essays
Show More
During the Tet offensive, only 1536 Americans died and out of the 85,000 Viet Cong soldiers, 45,000 of them died (more than half of them) . It was constantly shown on the news day by day, showing nothing but the Americans getting the hound kicked out of them. When the reporters went down to Saigon on January 30, 1968 got the story of the lifetime. This one event changed the mindset of the war. The Tet Offensive was the start of the down fall of the American forces in the Vietnam war because anti war riots sparked due to the lies from the media, the failure of leadership by the president, and the misrepresentation of the battle.
To start off, many anti war riots broke out and rebellions in American held South Vietnam. Many of the American people did not want to enter a war where they were losing, it is common sense. In an article written by Phillip B. Davidson, he states that “the reporters simply filled their own ‘facts’ when they didn’t have real ones” (Davidson 123). The misrepresentation of …show more content…
Many reports by major news stations showed said that the Americans lost many of their men and that it was a total American defeat. This one event truly showed the statement “the pen is mightier than the sword” (Davidson 123). “Only recently has the media’s misreporting of the Tet offensive been spotlighted” (Davidson 123). This event has only just been recently investigated, it has been years since the attack. This (as stated in the first paragraph) sparked fear and confusion within the American people. As the topic started rising throughout the American public’s televisions, “Gen. Maxwell Taylor wrote: ‘In forming the popular concept of what happened during the Tet offensive, TV was the dominant factor’” (Davidson 124). Gen. Taylor’s view was backed up later on by President Nixon, saying that the television’s reporting of the attack demoralized the home front (Davidson

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Richard Nixon Vietnam Research Paper
    • 1928 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Richard Nixon Vietnam Research Paper

    The Vietnam War was unpopular with the American people; this was the first war to be filmed through the media and civilians were exposed to the reality of the brutality taking place. While other wars had been filmed in the past, Vietnam had the distinction of being a war where the people were shown the true horror that was involved. The media’s involvement created a nationwide outcry that did nothing to gain the support that the armed forces so desperately…

    • 1928 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Tet Offensive As A Turning Point Of The Vietnam War
    • 2489 Words
    • 10 Pages

    The Tet Offensive As A Turning Point Of The Vietnam War

    The North Vietnamese became stronger and weakened the American Army substantially and increase the anti-war protests dramatically. In a carefully planned attack the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong attacked 13 cities simultaneously at the end of January in 1968. They attacked more cities every day. The aim of the Tet Offensive was to force the United States to stop helping South Vietnam as well as to break the stalemate in the war and get South Vietnamese to rise up against the Capitalist regime in Saigon. The Tet Offensive did not work out as planned as the North Vietnamese forces were spread too thin but it did mark a turning point in the War. The coverage of the Tet Offensive in America sparked more and intense protests. In the year of 1968, 15 000 American soldiers were killed and 100 cities were targeted in South Vietnam in the Tet Offensive. The biggest fight was in the city of Hue. One of the places targeted in these attacks was the American Embassy in South Vietnam. The Tet Offensive was a big strategic success. It showed that the end of the war was not in sight and despite the massive death toll and the American protests 200 000 new troops were called into South Vietnam. But within the American government there was division as some people thought that the United States should be scaling down their involvement in the war. President Johnson said that he was scaling down on the bombing of North Vietnam. He also…

    • 2489 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Vietnam War Dbq Analysis
    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Vietnam War Dbq Analysis

    Overall, the Vietnam war was a popular conflict that failed in terms of the defense of S, Vietnam against the communist N. Vietnam, and changed many American’s opinions about the nation’s role in the world and on their lives. The Vietnam War was yet another example of the escalation of the cold war, but his time, American intentions were completely misguided, and the damage done to society was huge. American involvement in Vietnam increased conflict and tension in the U.S. because of the overwhelming unpopularity of the government decisions causing great social unrest and unhappiness especially young people, political corruption in the Johnson and Nixon administrations, and economic mismanagement of the war effort vs. domestic programs.…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Tet Offensive: Involvement In The Vietnam War
    • 1091 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Tet Offensive: Involvement In The Vietnam War

    The Americans and South Vietnamese were completely caught off guard by the organized 80,000 Viet Cong soldiers attacking due to the focus of guerrilla warfare instead of conventional attacks. The leaders of the North Vietnamese Liberation force hoped it would be a stunning victory and cause the war to abruptly end. They had hoped that if the attack was not as successful as it was intended to be that the U.S. would restrict the bombing raids on the North. The Viet Cong attacked cities throughout South Vietnam such as Hue, Saigon, Kon Tum, Can Tho, and Ben Tre. The city of Hue was one of the hardest hit cities during the Tet Offensive. The North Vietnamese Army (NVA) held this city for almost a month, during which thousands of citizens were terminated for aiding the enemy. The city of most importance was the city containing the United States embassy, Saigon. The Viet Cong were able to penetrate the seemingly invincible outer walls.. The attacking Viet Cong were stopped in a couple of hours by a U.S. assault force. The whole offensive was a significant defeat militarily for the Viet Cong and the NVA. All the gains they had made were of no consequence as American and South Vietnamese forces took back the conquered areas. The losses for the VC and NVA were very costly as an estimated total of 50,000 fighters were killed, while the American and South Vietnamese losses numbered…

    • 1091 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Tet Offensive Dbq
    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Tet Offensive Dbq

    Before the Tet Offensive, the U.S government was encouraging patriotism and telling Americans that the South Vietnamese and the American soldiers were winning. Even after press released images and videos of the Tet Offensive, the government was desperate to cling to any form of public support, according to Charles Kaiser in the book, 1968 in America, “Just four days after Tet began, [President] Lyndon Johnson called the enemy's military effort a complete failure”(Kaiser, 79). Even after seeing such horrendous pictures of soldiers being murdered, the president still wanted to convince the public that we were still winning. Of course, everyone saw through his attempts and thus, many lost hope in the country and lost trust in their favorite politicians.…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Tet Offensive: Article Analysis
    • 1859 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Tet Offensive: Article Analysis

    The articles on the Vietnam war before the Tet Offensive was very positive about the war for the most part. There were article about the people who were against the war but for mostly it was pro-Vietnam War. That all change when the Tet Offensive happen. People start to criticize what was happen when the North Vietnam attack in attack cities and military base in South Vietnam on the Tet Holiday, January 30, 1968. This lead to the impression that the Vietnam war was going in the American and South Vietnamese favor to demolition into a lot of little peace which can be seen the news article publish after this…

    • 1859 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Effects Of The Tet Offensive
    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Effects Of The Tet Offensive

    Once this information became available to the American public, they began to realize that Nixon was expanding the war, rather than attempting to end it like he had promised. At this point, however, the American public was still torn between two opinions; some believe that they needed to immediately end the war efforts and others who felt that it was necessary for the US to remain involved in order to keep their international standing. It wasn’t until 1971 when the American public really developed a substantial opposition of the war efforts. Confidential reports, known as the Pentagon Papers, were released to the public detailing the extent of government misinformation regarding the Vietnam War. The US government has falsified enemy death counts, civilian casualties, and information regarding the revolt of US troops. This incident combined with the effects of the Tet Offensive strengthen the antiwar movement, which eventually convinced Nixon to end the draft and reducing the number of troops in Vietnam. It was at this point that Nixon finally gave way to the American public and began peace negotiations with North…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Vietnam War Propaganda
    • 2210 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Vietnam War Propaganda

    In the major media, the New York Times or CBS or whatever -- in fact, all across the spectrum except at the very far-out periphery which reaches almost no one -- in the major media which reach the overwhelming majority of the population, there was a lively debate. It was between people called "doves" and people called "hawks". The people called hawks said, "If we keep at it we can win." The people called doves said, "Even if we keep at it we probably can't win, and besides, it would probably be too costly for us, and besides maybe we're killing too many people," something like that. Both sides, the doves and the hawks, agreed on something: we have a right to carry out aggression against South Vietnam. In fact, they didn't even admit that it was taking place. They called it the "defense" of South Vietnam, using "defense" for "aggression" in the standard Orwellian manner. We were in fact attacking South Vietnam, just as much as the Russians are attacking Afghanistan. Like them, we first established a government that invited us in, and until we found one we had to overturn government after government. Finally we got one that invited us in, after we'd been there for years, attacking the countryside and the population. That's aggression. Nobody thought it was wrong, or rather, anyone who thought that was wrong was not admitted to the discussion. If you're a dove, you're in favor of aggression, if you're a hawk you're in favor of aggression. The debate between the hawks and the doves, then, is purely tactical: "Can we get away with it? Is it too bloody or too costly?" All basically irrelevant.”…

    • 2210 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Purpose Of The Tet Offensive In Vietnam
    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Purpose Of The Tet Offensive In Vietnam

    A Tet is a major Vietnamese holiday and the Tet Offensive was when North Vietnam did not respect the Cease fire and launched missiles at every major city, capitol, and army base. The goal of the Tet Offensive was to destroy South Vietnams government and it would be taken over by communists. After the Tet Offensive the US divided themselves into two realities. The first reality was that Tet was a victory for the US because the Vietcong were wiped out by the military because it was a traditional battle. The US soldiers had no problem with identifying who they were against because they were in uniforms. Reality two was how the public viewed the Tet offensive. The Tet Offensive was shown on live TV and the people saw the solders fighting, being killed, and complaining. LBJ told the people that the war was almost over and when they saw the Tet Offensive they felt as though LBJ had lied to them. The people became divided half wanted the war to continue and the other half wanted the war to end.…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    History Of The Tet Offensive
    • 329 Words
    • 2 Pages

    History Of The Tet Offensive

    On January 31, 1968, during the lunar New Year holiday of Tet, the North Vietnamese, and Vet Cong forces launched the Tet Offensive. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fiercely attacked more than hundred cities and towns in South Vietnam. United States forces and South Vietnamese forces managed to hold off the communist attack, however, news coverage of the offensive shocked the American public. The strength of Communist forces in the Tet victory shocked the respected television journalist Walter Cronkite. Walter Cronkite’s was America’s well-known and most popular CBS journalist of the era. Cronkite went to South Vietnam in February 1968 to get a firsthand look at the ongoing Tet Offensive. After touring war-ravaged sections of major cities…

    • 329 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Anti Vietnam War Movement Essay
    • 1389 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Anti Vietnam War Movement Essay

    The men higher up within the underestimated the Viet Con due to a mixture of racism, classism and perceived intellectual inferiority. Helicopter was considered far superior to tools available to the Viet Cong The young men had romanticised notions of war either from the stories of their American father’s ending WWII or from the movies, their naivety made them complacent. Romanticisations and underestimations do not make for a triumphant war effort; it just breeds confusion among the men who are fighting the war. The justification of the Vietnam War was ambiguous and contradictory according to American soldier who were fighting in it. They fought alongside South Vietnamese people who they perceived as beneath them, a people unwilling to help themselves while the Americans and other anti-communist allies arrived to give aid. The disillusionment of the soldiers during and following the war is tied in with the stripping down of blind patriotism. Soldiers attempt to rationalise the actions of the state because they are the ones that carried out what the state asked for, they perceive the war as somehow tied into their own morality. The Anti-Vietnam War Movement both thrived and suffered from this disillusion. Veterans joined the movement and protested it, the latter taking offence because they perceived the movement as…

    • 1389 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Cronkite's Response Of The Public Analysis
    • 1617 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Cronkite's Response Of The Public Analysis

    Cronkite would certainly not be the last public figure to criticize the U.S’s management of the war. The American public felt helpless as they people of importance blatantly bash the government. Domestic dissent in the U.S. population skyrocketed after the Tet Offensive. The damaging media coverage made it even harder to hold public opinion behind the war effort. One man remembered that Americans were “scared to death of the images” that seemed to come in a constant bombardment from overseas. Some even held the belief that the press reports were losing the war, because “all they do is report the bad news.” There was no doubt that Americans were frightened of what they saw in the news, as the media interpreted the Tet…

    • 1617 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Tet Offensive: A Case Study
    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Tet Offensive: A Case Study

    This is obviously related to the presence of American involvement on the side of the South Vietnamese which began after the Gulf of Tonkin incident and resolution passed by Congress. Even though the Tet Offensive was not a military success it was definitely a political one. It changed the narrative that President Johnson and his top aides were telling the American people about winning the war and that the end of war was on the horizon. “Westmoreland requested more than 200,000 new troops in order to mount an effective counteroffensive, an escalation that many Americans saw as an act of desperation”. This event is often stated as the turning point of the war, that would follow with bloodshed on American college campuses and a divided American public during the next…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Explain Why The Tet Offensive Was A Turning Point For Communist Victory
    • 1085 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Explain Why The Tet Offensive Was A Turning Point For Communist Victory

    This showed communist forces psychological and political victory while being a immense military defeat. General Giap used the offensive to gain support of Americans by showing the weaknesses of the South Vietnamese government and its inability to protect its citizens. Instead , the images of the horrible clashes and aftermath of the Tet Offensive dramatically increased anti -war movement in the US. The anti – war movement became influential and powerful as the war continued, as the cost to America financially and militarily amplified and as the media coverage showed people the real bloody and dreadful nature of the war. The anti war movement did play significant role in molding public opinion and therefore had an enormous impact upon ending the war as explained by US television commentator Eric Sevareid , “You weren’t really fighting just a military force. You were fighting a society, a society equipped with total faith.” It was that kind of faith that Americans lacked. Ultimately the US withdrawal helped communist to achieve victory easily and…

    • 1085 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Vietnam War Media Influence
    • 1329 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Vietnam War Media Influence

    Daily, the public was subjected to horrific images of US troops destroying small villages and murdering civilians. In an investigation by respected university professor Dr Daniel Hallin reveals that 52.4% of deaths shown on television during the war were of innocent civilians (Hallins, 1968). The highly poignant images utilised were so disturbing that when The New York Times ran the images they received complaints that said they were “horrific images of cold-blooded murder”. Despite this, the Times defended their decision, as it “depicted the bloody war in the streets of Saigon” (Riggins, 2011). The press’s overt refusal to stop producing the images further illustrates how damaging they believed the war was. Reporters, disgusted at the violence began freely questioning the sanctity of fighting as they showcased the raw horror of the war. Walter Cronkite, CBS journalist, known as the 'most trusted man in America' concluded a report on Tet stating that the public was "too often disappointed by the optimism of American leaders". He concluded by saying "it seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate" (Cronkite, 1968). Editorial comments like these soon outnumbered positive comments 2 to 1 (Hallin, 1986) and explicitly highlighted the press’s displeasure. Television and photojournalism had become a dramatic medium that showcased the…

    • 1329 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2023 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings