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By January 1968, American ground troops had been fighting in Vietnam for almost three years with little success. The U.S. had provided political, economic, and military support to the government of South Vietnam for a decade and a half while the North Vietnamese forces and their southern allies, the National Liberation Front (NLF), gained strength. Under President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ), the U.S. steadily increased its troop commitments in Vietnam throughout the mid-19605, and although Johnson claimed American and South Vietnamese military success, the Tet Offensive of January and February 1968 demonstrated otherwise. During a cease-fire in honor of Tet, the Vietnamese lunar New Year, Communist forces coordinated an attack on key cities and American military bases throughout South Vietnam. Although American and South Vietnamese forces eventually repelled the attack, North Vietnam and the NLF had some initial successes, including a siege of the American embassy building in Saigon. Many historians consider the Tet Offensive a psychological victory for the Communist forces and a political defeat for the U.S.
National Standards
This lesson plan will help students master the following standard from the National Standards for United States History:
Era 9: Postwar U.S.
3C: The student understands the foreign and domestic consequences of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, therefore the student is able to assess the Vietnam policy of the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations and the shifts of public opinion about the war. [Analyze multiple causation.]
Time
One class meeting of forty-five minutes.
Student Objectives
1. To analyze primary source material.
2. To analyze the role of the media in shaping public opinion and public policy.
3. To assess the impact of public opinion on foreign policy.
Background and Preparation
North Vietnam and the NLF launched the Tet Offensive in hopes of forcing the U.S. to the negotiating table and halting the American bombing campaign. Hanoi also hoped to weaken the Saigon government and drive a wedge between South Vietnam and the U.S. Beginning in late 1967, the Hanoi government began a strategy of attacking remote areas to lure American troops away from the large cities and towns in South Vietnam. They focused their attacks especially on the Marine garrison at Khe Sanh, just south of the demilitarized zone and near the Laotian border. Over...