How important was public opinion in the years 1965 to 1968 to putting President Johnson under pressure to withdraw US forces from Vietnam?

On the other hand, it could be said that public opinion was not as important as it first seems - for the most part; the anti-war movement was not significantly made up of one group. Instead, it appeared to be made up of different groups who had different reasons for being involved. This could have weakened their effectiveness; if instead they all worked together they have made more of an impact on Johnson than they did. The anti-war movement only also reflected a particular part of public opinion, while up to 2 million were involved in protests by 1969, the USA is obviously a huge place and the population is a lot bigger than that - the anti-war movement by no means portrayed a majority opinion. It could in fact be said that at times the public were quite patriotic. Source A suggests that the media portrayed a patriotic view of the war when it says: 'Time magazine was strongly supportive of the war. Overall, the reporting in newspapers and magazines enthusiastically backed the war. Relatively view Americans relied on television for their knowledge of the war.' For the most part, reporting in the media tends to reflect and influence public opinion - therefore this suggests that the public didn't significantly try to harm Johnson, whether that be physically or psychologically. In fact it even suggests the media had little influence on opinion, which in turn means that public opinion would have little influence on putting pressure on Johnson.

Because of that, it could be said a huge reason for Johnson being under pressure to withdraw US forces from Vietnam was the burden it put on the USA – both in financial and human costs. By 1968 there was a deficit of $25.3 billion and Johnson had to increase taxes to cover this, perhaps most critically the situation in Vietnam threatened America’s economic well-being for something that they were not going to get anything out of. By 1968, well over half a million US soldiers were involved. That meant, whether directly, or on their families, the war had a direct impact on millions of people. By the end of 1968, over 34,000 American soldiers had been killed and in addition to this 180,000 had been wounded in action; ranging from things like bullet wounds to things like paralysis and other life-changing conditions. Many were unable to settle back in to normal life on return from Vietnam, suicide rates shot up and drug abuse was very common among return soldiers, marijuana and heroin being extremely common – many turned to crime to fund these addiction. Reporting both on television and newspapers showed the terrible human suffering and sacrifices that the war brought. All of this together brought in to question for Johnson and those in Vietnam whether it was necessary for America to be in Vietnam as it was having a severe impact on the masses – this is supported greatly by Source B which states: ‘The result was a serious demoralisation of the home front, raising the question whether America would ever again be able to fight an enemy abroad with unity and strength of purpose at home.’ This portrays the idea that the huge financial and human cost the war was having forced a significant decrease in morale of the American soldiers and of Johnson himself – both the soldiers themselves and Johnson were seriously puzzled over why they was even involved in Vietnam. Johnson was extremely aware that military escalation had failed as the communists were determined and ingenious, their use of things such as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the Cu Chi Tunnels and the recycling of old weapons further illustrated how determined they were to beat the allied forces of the South Vietnamese and the Americans. This further put Johnson under pressure to acknowledge how strong the communists were. All of this coupled with the situation of the war in general i.e. the costs involved and the fact that it didn’t seem to be going anywhere led to even more pressure being put on Johnson to withdraw US forces from Vietnam.

Both Sources A and B differ with regard to the influence that public opinion had on Johnson - it of course was an important factor as Johnson couldn't simply ignore the protests taking place involving over 2 million people, he understood that the situation in Vietnam was becoming too out of hand and this lead to him becoming reluctant, however it can’t necessarily be said that public opinion was the only and most important factor on Johnson being put under pressure to withdraw US forces from Vietnam. What seems more important than public opinion was the significant effect that the war as a whole was having on Johnson himself and the general population of the United States. Those involved were significantly affected whether that be economically, or whether they were involved physically. There was a serious demoralisation of troops and more soldiers were being killed and injured every day which led to more citizens being ‘drafted’ in and more financial costs. Johnson could not ignore public opinion but it was only one of multiple factors that lead to him being under pressure to withdraw the US from Vietnam altogether.