How did Tet Offensive affect the South Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War quizlet?

This discontentment among U.S. troops resulted in one of the most horrible incidents of the war, in March 1968. Soldiers in one U.S. company, frustrated at their inability to find Viet Cong during a search-and-destroy mission in the tiny South Vietnamese village of My Lai, killed approximately 500 unarmed Vietnamese civilians, including women, children, and elderly. The My Lai Massacre was covered up and did not become public knowledge until late 1969. In 1971, Lieutenant William Calley, commander of the company, was sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes. Despite shock at the massacre, however, many in the American felt that Calley was a scapegoat for wider problems, and he was released on parole in 1974.

After the Tet Offensive, the U.S. government stepped up its covert operations, the most famous of which was the CIA-led Phoenix Program, which had been initiated in June 1967. Among other objectives, the program was meant to assassinate Viet Cong leadership. Although approximately 20,000 people were assassinated under the Phoenix Program, the program was plagued by corruption, mismanagement, and faulty intelligence, and many of its victims were likely not Viet Cong at all. In many cases, unscrupulous South Vietnamese officials named their opponents as Viet Cong and requested that the Phoenix Program eliminate them. When the details of the program later surfaced, many protested that its activities amounted to nothing more than war crimes.

Johnson's early withdrawal from the 1968 U.S. presidential race allowed other Democrats to step in, including two antiwar candidates from the Senate, Eugene McCarthy and Robert F. Kennedy, and Johnson's pro-war vice president, Hubert Humphrey. Kennedy, the younger brother of former president John F. Kennedy, seemed sure to win the party's nomination until he was assassinated at a Los Angeles hotel in June 1968. Humphrey became the Democratic nominee instead. However, violence outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago ruined Humphrey's chances, as American voters erroneously linked the police brutality with the Democratic Party.

Republicans capitalized on the riot and nominated Eisenhower's former vice president, Richard M. Nixon, on a pro-war platform. Alabama governor George C. Wallace also ran as a third-party candidate, for the war and against civil rights. Because the riot had tainted Humphrey's public image and because Wallace seemed far too conservative, Nixon won the election easily.

Sets with similar terms

Recommended textbook solutions

How did Tet Offensive affect the South Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War quizlet?

U.S. History

1st EditionJohn Lund, Paul S. Vickery, P. Scott Corbett, Todd Pfannestiel, Volker Janssen

567 solutions

How did Tet Offensive affect the South Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War quizlet?

America's History for the AP Course

8th EditionEric Hinderaker, James A. Henretta, Rebecca Edwards, Robert O. Self

470 solutions

How did Tet Offensive affect the South Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War quizlet?

America's History for the AP Course

9th EditionEric Hinderaker, James A. Henretta, Rebecca Edwards, Robert O. Self

961 solutions

How did Tet Offensive affect the South Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War quizlet?

Ways of the World: A Global History

3rd EditionRobert W. Strayer

232 solutions

Recommended textbook solutions

How did Tet Offensive affect the South Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War quizlet?

U.S. History

1st EditionJohn Lund, Paul S. Vickery, P. Scott Corbett, Todd Pfannestiel, Volker Janssen

567 solutions

How did Tet Offensive affect the South Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War quizlet?

America's History for the AP Course

9th EditionEric Hinderaker, James A. Henretta, Rebecca Edwards, Robert O. Self

961 solutions

How did Tet Offensive affect the South Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War quizlet?

Western Heritage Since 1300, AP Edition

12th EditionDonald Kagan, Frank M. Turner, Steven Ozment

490 solutions

How did Tet Offensive affect the South Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War quizlet?

America's History for the AP Course

8th EditionEric Hinderaker, James A. Henretta, Rebecca Edwards, Robert O. Self

470 solutions

How did the Tet Offensive affect the Vietnam War quizlet?

What was the impact of the Tet Offensive on the American war effort in Vietnam? It led to a massive decrease in popular support for the war in Vietnam.

What was the effect of the Tet Offensive quizlet?

What was the result of the Tet Offensive? After a month of fighting, the American and South Vietnamese soldiers drove back the enemy troops, inflicting heavy losses+ turned many Americans against the war and President Johnson.

What effect did the Tet Offensive have on US public opinion during the Vietnam War quizlet?

How did the Tet Offensive influence American public opinion about the war? Unconvinced that the Tet Offensive was a U.S. victory, American opposition to the war increased.

What was the Tet Offensive and why was it important quizlet?

-The Tet Offensive was a series of attacks that had taken place during the Vietnamese Lunar New Year in 1968. -The attacks were conducted by the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army. What is the SIGNIFICANCE of the TET OFFENSIVE? -America underestimated Vietnams power and strong strategies.