How far do you agree the Tet Offensive was a turning point in the Vietnam War?

Sydney Rolle

A Major Turning point

Word Count: 1680

Plan of the investigation:

This investigation evaluates the degree to which the Tet offensive was a turning point in the Vietnam War. Also the extent to which the Tet offensive changed American public opinion on the Vietnam War, and the affect this had on the War. In this investigation I will explore how the Tet Offensive changed the direction of the war by changing the American public’s confidence in America’s ability to win the war. It will also investigate the change in tactics after the Tet offensive, and how the Tet offensive directly affected America’s decisions in relation to the War. This investigation ranges from the events of 1968-1969.

To help me analyze the investigation question: How far do you agree the Tet Offensive was a turning point in the Vietnam War? the sources Turning Points in the Vietnam War by and Tet offensive: a turning point in the Vietnam war by Steve Forrest will be used.

Summery of the Evidence:

As the Vietcong guerrilla soldiers “violated the temporary truce they had pledged”(Forrest) and invaded South Vietnam in on the Lunar New Year celebrations of 1968 they took American soldiers by surprise. Forrest argues that the North Vietnamese moved the war from the rural areas into the supposedly secure urban areas with the launching of the Tet Offensive. Forrest states that the Vietcong soldiers stormed the highland towns of Banmethout, Kontum and Pleiku while taking the Americans off guard and the North Vietnamese even managed to raid the US embassy in Saigon. By the beginning of March there were huge casualties on both sides, and the CIA admitted, “The intensity, coordination and timing of the attacks were not fully anticipated” (Forrest) and that the Vietcong had the ability to hit many targets simultaneously (Forrest).

The Tet offensive did make America begin the de-escalation process within Vietnam, but because the Communists were eventually “driven back from the cities” (Sanders) the Tet Offensive was a military victory for America. The Vietcong lost 60,000 men, which was about how many men the Americans, lost during the whole war. Sanders argues that the communist credibility took a great blow because they had no popular uprising in South Vietnam as the North Vietnamese expected. The US and South Vietnamese lost 6,000 men and the North Vietnamese lost a total of “50,000 and in the process had seen the destruction of their organization’s command structure in the south” (Forrest). Sanders states that the Tet offensive proved that the US could just about maintain the status quo and that there was military stalemate. The Offensive became known as a “military failure”(Hayward) for the North Vietnamese, and despite their surprise attacks American troops along with the South Vietnamese were able to run them out the cities.

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Sanders states the Tet offensive forced the Johnson administration into a re-evaluation of US policy because it “exposed the fundamental weaknesses of Johnson’s war policy” (Hayward). Hayward argues the Tet offensive delivered a fatal blow to political support for the war in the United States and proved to be the turning point of the war. Even though the Tet offensive was a disappointing defeats to the North Vietnamese it “it exposed the bankruptcy of U.S. war policy”(Hayward) and prepared the way for America’s eventual humiliation (Hayward). The public opinion of the Vietnam War changed and Kissinger stated, “the prevalent strategy could no longer achieve its objectives…acceptable to the American people” (Forrest). The attacks proved to be a catalyst in the attitudes of the American people towards the war (Forrest). After the Tet offensive Johnson’s approval ratings plummeted (Forrest) and by March his popularity was “down to 30%” (Forrest) and the war was under question as well. The results of the offensive “electrified the nation and intensified the anti-war protest” (Forrest).

Evaluation of Sources

The source Turning points in Vietnam by Vivienne Saunders it is an article published in the magazine “History Today” in 2008. Its purpose is to educate the reader on brief background information about the Tet Offensive and whether it was truly a turning point for the Americans in the Vietnam War. The articles value is that it is written specifically on tuning points in the Vietnam War so it specifically investigates into my research title. It is also written by Viv Sanders who has written numerous books on the Vietnam War, and important events within the War, because Sanders is writing articles for a trusted history magazine this article also has more value. Another value is that the article is published in 2008 because is give Sanders the advantage of hindsight. The limitations of this article is that it does spend a lot time focusing on other turning points during the war, and is not completely focused on the effects of the Tet Offensive; the part on the Tet Offensive is only a section of the article. Sanders states that she has issues with “common assumptions” therefore she does not take into consideration these common assumptions, which may be true.

The source Tet offensive: a turning point in the Vietnam War by Steve Forrest is an article written in with the intention of evaluating the impact of the Tet Offensive, and indicating clearly whether it was a true turning point in the Vietnam War or not. The value of the article is that it provides informative statistics, which help the reader, understand the true effect on the public’s opinion of the War after the Tet offensive, which is a value of the source. It also presents the other side briefly without exploration and clearly states its position, that the Tet Offensive was a turning point within the Vietnam War, which is another value of the source. The limitation of the article is that it does not give detailed information on the background of the war, or what happened following the Tet Offensive, which is a limitation of the article in relation to the war, and statistics about the troops. The article also does not offer much detail about wartime statistics before and after the Tet Offensive witch is another limitation of the source.

Analysis

The Tet offensive was a turning point in the Vietnam War. Despite the Tet Offensive being a military victory for America and South Vietnam it had immense negative effects on public opinion within America. This public opinion was essential in continuing the war and without the public’s support the war could no longer go on. Forrest argues that before the Tet offensive Americans felt as though they could win the Vietnam War, however after the offensive Americans no longer felt this way, making it a major turning point within the war. The US administration began restructuring military tactics, and were of the North Vietnamese Vietcong. The war made the Johnson administration “re-evaluate US policy” (Saunders), this re-evaluation came at a time with great protests about the war were happening in the home front, indicating to historians that the Tet Offensive was a turning point in the Vietnam war.

Despite the fact that Tet was a military victory the Offensive “proved to be the turning point of the war” (Hayward). The Americans did not anticipate such a strong attack from the North, “The intensity, coordination and timing of the attacks were not fully anticipated,' adding, 'another major unexpected point' was the ability of the Vietcong to hit so many targets simultaneously”(Forrest). It became obvious very soon after the Offensive that it would take many more years, and a huge number of troops in order to see a true victory in Vietnam, years and troops and funds that the United States public was not willing to sacrifice. Without the support of the US public Johnson could no longer continue to increase the war efforts and no longer felt as though the war was winnable.

In another interpretation of the Tet Offensive it is not seen as a turning point because it was military victory and a huge success for American and South Vietnamese soldiers. The Vietcong were able to launch a surprise attack, capturing major cities in South Vietnam but despite this America and South Vietnamese soldiers were still able to contain, recapture their land, and push them back onto North Vietnamese land. The North Vietnamese also lost “50,000 and in the process had seen the destruction of their organization’s command structure in the south” (Forrest) therefore America proved that they were still much stronger military wise than the North Vietnamese because they only lost 500 men. The North Vietnamese had expected to cause major riots in the South and recruit help from civilians in the South, however this did not happen proving to be a major downfall in the North’s plan to capture South Vietnam. “The Vietcong had hoped that their liberation of towns and cities would lead to an uprising against the Americans” (Forrest).

Despite the fact that the Tet offensive make American civilians feel that they could no longer win the war, troop levels “remained at about 500,000 and the war would drag on for another five years” (Forrest) and more American soldiers died after Tet than before it. Public opinion however did not change for the course of the war, after Tet Americans began heavy protesting and Johnson’s approval ratings plummeted and he chose not to run for re reelection.

Conclusion

In Conclusion it is clear that the Tet Offensive was a turning point within the Vietnam War. Despite the military victory for the South Vietnamese and American soldiers, the public opinion of the war, and wartime tactics was dramatically altered, and the war was then considered unwinnable. People no longer felt like the time, money, and soldiers invested in Vietnam could produce a viable result and began major protests. And without the support of the public the president could no longer win the Vietnam war, and maintain his approval ratings.

Johnson did not run for reelection as his approval ratings dropped during and immediately after the Tet Offensive. The Offensive is seen as the beginning of the end of the Vietnam war, and a major turning point.