Essay
Johnson’s demise in Vietnam was entirely due to the impact of the media (A* grade essay)
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History essay written in the second year of A level (22/25)
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“Johnson’s demise in Vietnam was entirely due to the impact of the media.”Assess the validity of this view.
It is invalid to state that Johnson’s demise in Vietnam was entirely due to the impact of the
media, however indeed, it did play a very significant role, not only in this but also in
influencing the anti-war movement and remarkably lowering the morale of those at home,
meaning there were more draft dodgers. This unquestionably had some impact. The
protesters also contributed to Johnsons demise as they had a massive psychological impact
on the president, making him doubt his involvement, alongside influential politicians, whose
anti-war stance created both political and economic problems. Moreover, the impact of the
Tet Offensive, after which media turned negative and anti-war protests increased, cannot be
ignored as it was undeniably as important, if not more than media in Johnsons demise.
It was indeed the media that made Vietnam unpopular with Americans back home, thus
putting Johnson under pressure to give up his presidency the most trustworthy person in
America, Walter Cronkite, had turned anti-war after the Tet Offensive to which Johnson said
“If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost America.” This was indeed true, with his approval ratings
falling to 38% and with loss of public support carrying on in Vietnam would be very difficult
as now he’d also have to deal with those against the war back at home. This was added
pressure to the fact that with the media emphasising American defeat in the Tet Offensive,
Johnson would now have to rethink the tactics used, as it appeared that a third world
country was strong enough to challenge the USA, even after Operation Rolling Thunder,
which should’ve bombed North Vietnam communications and supplies enough to
significantly weaken them. In addition to this, the media never shied away from showing the
gruesome reality of this war, showing images such as a Vietcong suspect being shot. This
damaged American faith that the US was morally right in this war, which would turn even
those who believe in the Domino theory against the war, as they saw how unjust this war
really was. Therefore, more pressure would be put on Johnson, as now more people didn’t
see the war as America doing good and would want the US out. This would also have an
impact on the President personally, as he feels the blame for these atrocities, sho9wn on
television and in the newspapers, as indeed he was the one in charge. This had a de4ep
psychological impact on Johnson making him believe less and less in the righteousness of
the war and led to many sleepless nights, where he roamed the White House thinking about
the war. However, prior to 1968, the media was actually supportive of the war effort and
thus had very little to no impact on Johnsons demise in Vietnam up to the Tet Offensive,
decreasing the validity of the statement. Therefore, indeed the media did have a massive
psychological impact on the Americans, turning them anti-war and emphasising all the
negatives, making Johnson look terrible as a commander and generally as a person who
escalated the war. It can even be argued that to a far extent, it was the media that turned
Johnson very anti-Vietnam and led him to not putting himself forward for re-election, simply
because of the huge negative impact it had.
Protesters, not only in America but also well-known politicians from around the world made
the Vietnam war even harder for Johnson, thus they also played a role in Johnson’s demise.
They had a political, social and even economic impact on the UDS and its president. Charles
de Gaules greatly criticised the war as a “bombing of a very small people by a very large
one”, calling it “unjust and barbaric”. On the international front, the US looked very bad due
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