1968
A year that became a major turning point in America.
Tet Offensive
This left Americans to try and figure out "What is going on?" Walter Cronkite said it best during his broadcast of the story on CBS Evening News, "I thought we were winning the war! What...is going on?" It did not take long for President Johnson to realize that he was losing the support of the American people. Even people within his administration, like secretary of defense Robert McNamara, began to question his policy in Vietnam. As the year 1968 continued Johnson began to create a plan to leave Vietnam. In March, Johnson made the ultimate decision to not run for re-election after the increasing lack of support he was receiving following the Tet Offensive.
Impact:
The Tet Offensive was a time in which Americans were able to see the true conditions of what was going on in Vietnam. Like Cronkite said, we though we were winning this war. While the public opinion on the war was not very positive, it was after this event where is decreased even more. Not just that, but people started to question Johnson and the policies he was creating for the war.