1. TAHP Spring 2011 Dr. Thomas E. Smith
Vietnam and the Media
TAHP Spring 2011
Dr. Thomas E. Smith

2. The “Cronkite Moment”: Media, Public Opinion and the State
“Report from Vietnam by Walter Cronkite”
9:30 PM CST February 27, 1968
“Cronkite Moment” to Journalists
The Power of the Anchorman
Journalist Standard
‘Editorializing’
Responsible Journalism
Showing Courage and Influence
Especially, in War-Reporting
Affect on Policy Makers
Lyndon Johnson: “If I’ve lost Cronkite – I’ve lost Middle America.”
March 31st – Johnson Not Seeking Re-election and New Position on Vietnam: Negotiated Settlement

3. “There will be blood, sweat and tears shed.”
David Halberstam, The Powers that Be (New York: Dell Publishing, 1979)
“The first time in American history a war had been declared over by an anchorman.” Page 716
Media Driven Myths
Reductive, unambiguous, easily remembered explanations of complex historical events
The Cronkite Moment and the Connections to the State and Decision Making
Johnson’s Approach
Speech at the Convention of National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (28 February 1968)
 “There will be blood, sweat and tears shed.”
“I believe that every American will answer now for his future and for his children’s future.”
“Persevere in Vietnam we will, and we must.”
 New York Times, 28 February 1968

4. March 3rd:
 “We will not be Quislings.”
“We will not be appeasers”
 Washington Post, 3 March 1968
March 31st, Johnson:
“Peace through negotiation”
“Not Seek Re-election”
Johnson and his Advisors
General William Westmoreland and Troop Levels
Bureaucratic Crippling
Robert McNamara – Secretary of Defense
Moderation in Strategy
Left officially on February 29th 1968

5. Eugene McCarty and the New Hampshire Democratic Primary March 12, 1968
“Council of Wise Men”
Dean Acheson, George Bundy, George Ball, Omar Bradley
In November 1967
Endorsed Johnson’s Policy
Late March 1968
Softening of Johnson’s War Stance
“Mandarins”
Eugene McCarty and the New Hampshire Democratic Primary March 12, 1968
McCarty as Symbolic of the Unraveling of the Liberal Consensus
Robert Kennedy entry into the Democratic Primary
INSERT SOME TEXT FROM MCCARTY

6. On the Ground Realities
Tet Offensive: January 1968
Repelled with little evidence of NV-inspired revolution
1,700 US Deaths
40,000 NVA and Viet Cong
Public Opinion
Gallup Poll: “Do you think it was a mistake to send US troops to Vietnam”
August-September 1965
60% No, 24% Yes
October 1967 (three months before Tet)
44% No, 47% Yes
Multi-Causality, not Simple Statements

7. “Vietnam Moment” and Iraq
Document from USA Today – 13 April 2004