Why did US involvement in the Vietnam War become so controversial?

Brands, Chapter 6:  Paved with Good Intentions (1965-68)

  • What Asian Boys Ought to be Doing (pp. 133-38)
  • A New War (pp. 138-42)
  • Into the Jungle (pp. 143-45)
  • Summer of Love (pp. 146-48)
  • Summer of Violence (pp. 148-52)
  • Hey, Hey, LBJ … (pp. 152-155)
  • The Handwriting on the Embassy Wall (pp. 155-58)

Image Gateway

Nixon ad

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard Nixon (Rep), “Vietnam” (1968)

 

See the notorious 1964 “Daisy Girl” campaign commercial

 

Overview

“The Vietnam War profoundly influenced domestic politics. Moreover, it poisoned many Americans’ perceptions of their government and its role in the world. And yet, while the antiwar demonstrations attracted considerable media attention and stand today as a hallmark of the sixties counterculture, many Americans nevertheless continued to regard the war as just.”  —American Yawp, chapter 28, section II

Timeline –Escalation in Vietnam 

  • 1963 // Assassination of Diem
  • 1964 // Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
  • 1965-68 // Escalation
  • 1968 // Tet Offensive

Tet Offensive

Here are video clips of Walter Cronkite’s original February 27, 1968 CBS Evening News Broadcast on the Tet Offensive, illustrating a turning point in the “living room war.”