The Failure Of Tet's Assassination Of Vietnam

By 1966, Johnson was pleased with the progress he had made. But soon events in Southeast Asia began to overshadow his domestic achievements. Funds he had envisioned to fight his war on poverty were now diverted to the war in Vietnam. The year's first major shock - the Vietnamese Tet offensive on January 30 1968 - was all the greater for being a near-complete surprise. Tet revealed the failure of Washington's policy and shattered the consensus that had prevailed within the U.S. elite. Tet forced Johnson to convene an extraordinary advisory group of Washington powerhouses - the so-called "Wise Men." They told Johnson that the war could not be won. This report combined with the growing strength of antiwar protest was the immediate trigger for Johnson's dramatic withdrawal from the presidential race. Three months later, doves (war opponents) increased from 28 to 42 %. Then on April 4 came King's assassination. And two months later on June 5, Robert Kennedy would be assassinated too. Before their deaths, King and Kennedy had spoken against the Vietnam War. Tet offensive, the murders of Kennedy and King, and general youth rebellion had radicalized the antiwar movement. Battles for Black equality and against the Vietnam War reawakened freedom struggles in all U.S. communities of color, sparked a reborn movement for women's liberation and …show more content…
But the Great Society fell short after Johnson escalated the American involvement in Vietnam. The war bitterly divided Americans. Galvanized by the carnage of the war and the draft, the antiwar movement spread rapidly among young people. In 1968 the nation was rocked by the assassinations of Martin L. King and R. Kennedy and a wave of urban