Why did the Vietnam War become so unpopular in the USA

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Why did the Vietnam War become so unpopular in
the USA?
300
Americans a week being killed
30,000 million
Dollars a year being spent on the war
400,000
Dollars for each Vietcong guerrilla killed
61
Of American men killed were 21 or younger
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Learning Objectives

• Why did the Vietnam war become so unpopular in
  the USA?
• What role did the media play in this turning of
  opinion?
• What happened at My Lai and how did this affect
  public opinion?

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Background

• By 1968, the war was a stalemate. The USA could
  not defeat the Viet Cong.
• The Viet Cong could not drive the USA out. The
  Tet Offensive in 1968 had shown this.
• However, American public opinion could!
• As the American support for the war drained away,
  the President began to scale down American
  forces. By the end on 1973, they had left
  Vietnam completely.
• Why did the Americans pull out?
• Four main reasons

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We are not winning the war and cant win.

• By 1968, the war was a stalemate. The USA could
  not defeat the Viet Cong.
• The Viet Cong could not drive the USA out.
• This became clear to the Americas after the Tet
  Offensive in 1968 when the Vietcong had launched
  a major offensive that took American forces be
  complete surprise
• The situation didnt look like it was going to
  change.

Tet Offensive, 1968
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What we are doing to the Vietnamese people is
immoral.

• The media brought the reality of the war into
  peoples living rooms.
• They reported the effects of American bombing on
  the Vietnamese people they showing civilians
  dead or homeless.
• They interviewed Prisoners of war who had been
  tortured and showed prisoners of war being
  executed.
• They filmed the effects of chemical weapons used
  by the USA.
• Instead of Vietnam being a symbol of a US crusade
  against Communism, it had become a symbol of
  defeat and confusion.

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We dont want anymore of our young people
killed.

• The media brought the reality of the war into
  peoples living rooms.
• The body bags containing American troops were
  shown on television.
• By the end of the war, the USA had suffered over
  300,000 dead and wounded.
• Hey, Hey, LBJ, how many kids will you kill
  today?

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This war is tearing the USA apart and costing us
dear.

• The cost of the war to American was 30 billion a
  year.
• There were anti-war protests all over the
  country.
• Thousands began to draft dodge
• In 1969, 700,000 protesters marched in Washington
  DC.
• In March 1970, National Guard troopers shot dead
  four student protesters. This caused public
  uproar.

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The My Lai Massacre, 1968
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The My Lai Massacre, 1968

• In March 1968, a unit of young soldiers started a
  search and destroy mission in a region of South
  Vietnam.
• They had been told that in the My Lai area there
  were 200 Vietcong Guerrillas.
• The soldiers had been ordered to destroy all
  houses, dwellings and livestock. Most of them
  were under the impression they had been ordered
  to kill anyone they found in the village.
• In four hours, the soldiers had killed between
  300 and 400 people.
• They were mostly women, children and old men.
• No Vietcong were found in the village and only 3
  weapons were recovered.
• At first it was covered up by the army, the
  officers involved were praised.
• However, 12 months later a letter arrived at the
  homes of 30 leading politicians written by a
  soldiers who knew those who were involved in this
  massacre.
• Soon after the Life magazine printed images of
  the My Lai Massacre.
• This triggered an investigation that ended in the
  trial for mass murder of Lieutenant William
  Calley.
• This case shocked Americans. It was the clearest
  evidence that the war had gone wrong.

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Your Task

• Make notes to answer the following question
• Why did the Vietnam War become so unpopular in
  the USA?
• Make sure you include notes about
• The stalemate situation by 1968
• Media influence
• Public protests
• The My Lai Massacre