Public Sentiment Regarding the Vietnam War

1127 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Reasons for protest in the u.s during vietnam war

Many of the democrats within the legislative branch turned against Johnson’s war. Scholar’s conflict on the reason why Johnson’s own party turned against him, some scholars attribute it to the growing number of antiwar constituents, while other scholars such as E.M. Schreiber, Burstein and Freudenburg cite the numerous deaths of American soldiers in combat. One democrat by the name of Eugene McCarthy labeled the entire Vietnam War as an “error” and describes the Johnson administration as “misguided.” McCarthy decides to run for President, but loses in the primaries by a slim margin to Johnson, further indicating that the antiwar movement was gaining significant momentum. Things were only beginning to get even worse as the Tet Offensive and the Mai Lai massacre overshadowed the propaganda speeches from Westmoreland and President Johnson. The media was once a key ally to the Johnson administration during the early stages of the war, now turned completely against American involvement. Media outlets such as Life magazine began to show pictures of dead Americans in almost every issue. In February of 1968, influential CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite, who returned from Saigon, informs Americans during his nightly broadcast that the Vietnam War could not be won. Leaks from within the White House did not help Johnson’s strategy either; the New York Times broke the news of General Westmoreland’s request of 206,000 additional troops. In August 1968, during the Democratic national convention in Chicago, 10,000 antiwar protesters gathered and were confronted by an equipped police force. The crackdown on the protesters was broadcasted on live TV. The protests indicated that the U.S. was experiencing a profound degree of social unrests. T...

... middle of paper ...

...er, E. M.. "Anti-War Demonstrations and American Public Opinion on the War in Vietnam." The British Journal of Sociology 27, no. 2 (1976): 225-236.
Small, Melvin, William D. Hoover, and Charles DeBenedetti. "3." In Give peace a chance: exploring the Vietnam antiwar movement : essays from the Charles DeBenedetti Memorial Conference. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1992. 90-95.
Verba, Sidney, Richard A. Brody, Edwin B. Parker, Norman H. Nie, Nelson W. Polsby, Paul Ekman, and Gordon S. Black. "Public Opinion and the War in Vietnam." The American Political Science Review 61, no. 2 (1967): 317-333.
Wagaman, J. Brian. "Antiwarriors: The Vietnam War and the Battle for America's Hearts and Minds." The Journal of Popular Culture 37, no. 4 (2004): 746-748.
Wells, Tom. The war within: America's battle over Vietnam. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1994.

Show More
Related

  • Chris Appy's American Reckoning

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    Chris Appy’s s American Reckoning is a book-length essay on the Vietnam War and how it changed the way Americans think of ourselves and our foreign policy. This is required reading for anyone interested in foreign policy and America’s place in the world, showing how events influence attitudes, which turn to influence events.

    Read More

  • Mark Atwood Lawrence´s The Vietnam War: A Concise International History

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Vietnam War: A Concise International History is a strong book that portrays a vivid picture of both sides of the war. By getting access to new information and using valid sources, Lawrence’s study deserves credibility. After reading this book, a new light and understanding of the Vietnam war exists.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Philip Caputo's A Rumor Of War

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Vietnam War has become a focal point of the Sixties. Known as the first televised war, American citizens quickly became consumed with every aspect of the war. In a sense, they could not simply “turn off” the war. A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo is a firsthand account of this horrific war that tore our nation apart. Throughout this autobiography, there were several sections that grabbed my attention. I found Caputo’s use of stark comparisons and vivid imagery, particularly captivating in that, those scenes forced me to reflect on my own feelings about the war. These scenes also caused me to look at the Vietnam War from the perspective of a soldier, which is not a perspective I had previously considered. In particular, Caputo’s account of

    Read More

  • The Day The 60's Died Analysis

    1788 Words  | 4 Pages

    The 1960’s was a time society fantasized of a better world. However, the horrors of the Vietnam War soon became evident; the mass amounts of death occurring because of the war became a reality. It created a “movement”, especially in American colleges, in order to stand up for what they believed to be “right”. By 1970, many Americans believed sending troops to Vietnam was a mistake, however there were also various individuals becoming increasingly critical of the student antiwar movement

    Read More

  • Exposing the Truth in Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong

    2203 Words  | 5 Pages

    Fussell, Paul. "Vietnam." The Bloody Game: An Anthology of  Modern War. Ed. Paul Fussell. London: Scribners, 1991. 651-6.

    Read More

  • The Battle of Long Tan

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Vietnam War was a vicious conflict predominately between the United States and Australia against The Viet Cong and The North Vietnamese. Initially the public supported the war, however the American president of the time, Lyndon B. Johnson, exaggerated how easy and worldwide the war was to attract further support. When he called for “more flags” to be represented in South Vietnam only the Philippines, the Republic of South Korea, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand indicated a willingness to contribute some form of military aid. By doing this “it enabled Johnson to portray the developing war as international to show it must be dealt with and gain support,” (Hastings, 2003). The outcome of the Vietnam War was ensured because the governments of the United States and Australia could not maintain their publics’ support due to the popular culture of the time. This was because much of the war was shown on television or other popular culture, so events like the Battle of Long Tan could be seen by families and people of all ages in their living rooms; this was the first time they could see how bad a war can actually be.

    Read More

  • Research Paper on the Year 1969

    1646 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of the most important political issues of 1969 was the Vietnam War. Throughout this year many demonstrations took place to protest the war. For example, in...

    Read More

  • The Vietnam War In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

    1558 Words  | 4 Pages

    Vietnam was a highly debated war among citizens of the United States. This war was like no other with regards to how it affected people on the home front. In past war’s, the population of the United States mainly supported the war and admired soldiers for their courage. During the Vietnam War, citizens of the U.S. had a contradictory view than in the past. This dilemma of not having the support of the people originates from the culture and the time period.

    Read More

  • The Vietnam Counter-Culture

    1523 Words  | 4 Pages

    Due to the volatile conditions of the Vietnam War, the protestors believed that they should not be involved in a war that they cared so little about. Public opinion heavily swayed during the war as only one senator dissented from the overwhelming opinion to fight the war (Amter 45). However, as President Johnson escalated the war and the Draft increased by 25% in 1968, those youths being conscripted were infuriated (Dougan 118). Not only this, the North Vietnamese began a ruthless offensive on American soldiers by merciless attacking our bases. This resulted in US victories, but also US casualties (Dougan 116). Also, the marines stationed at the bases began to use offensive attacks to deter Viet Cong assault against the wishes of General Taylor (Karnov 443). With these new less defensive strategy, Nixon announced plans to start operations in Cambodia, and to increase the bombings overall in Southeast Asia (Dougan 180). Some missions even began t...

    Read More

  • American Public Opinion of the Vietnam War

    1562 Words  | 4 Pages

    American Public Opinion of the Vietnam War At the beginning of the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, in 1965, The American public favored the idea of war because they feared the threat of communism. Polls conducted in 1965, showed 80 percent of the population agreed with President Johnson and were for the war. Rousseau 11. The U.S. got involved in the war to stop communism. from spreading throughout South Asia.

    Read More

  • The U.S. Public Opinion as a Major Factor in the Withdrawal of American Troops from Vietnam

    617 Words  | 2 Pages

    The U.S. Public Opinion as a Major Factor in the Withdrawal of American Troops from Vietnam

    Read More

  • Protests Against the Vietnam War

    1005 Words  | 3 Pages

    James A. Baldwin once said, “The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose” (BrainyQuote.com). In the 1960s, “the man” was youth across the country. The Vietnam war was in full force, and students across the country were in an outrage. Society needed an excuse to rebel against the boring and safe way of life they were used to; Vietnam gave them the excuse they needed. Teenagers from different universities came together and formed various organizations that protested the Vietnam war for many reasons. These reasons included protesting weapons and different tactics used in the war, and the reason the U.S. entered the war in the first place. These get-togethers had such a monumental impact on their way of life that it was famously named the Anti-War Movement. When the Vietnam War ended, The United States did not have a real concrete reason why; there were a bunch of theories about why the war ended. Through negative media attention and rebellious youth culture, the Anti-War Movement made a monumental impact in the ending of the Vietnam War.

    Read More

  • When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip

    1578 Words  | 4 Pages

    Self-Interest and Civilians' Attitudes Toward the Vietnam WarRichard R. Lau, Thad A. Brown and David O. SearsThe Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 42, No. 4 (Winter, 1978), pp. 464-483

    Read More

  • Analysis of Slaughterhouse-Five Antiwar Sentiments

    776 Words  | 2 Pages

    Barringer, Mark, Tom Wells. “The Anti-War Movement in the United States.” www.english.illinois.edu. Oxford UP. 1999. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.

    Read More

  • John Lennon's Song Imagine

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    Willbanks, James H. "The Real History of the Vietnam War." ARMCHAIR GENERAL Nov. 2007: 54-67. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

More about Public Sentiment Regarding the Vietnam War

Open Document