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[[File:Marines_in_DaiDo_Vietnam_during_Tet_Offensive_1968.jpg|thumbnail|left|300px|U.S. Marines move through the hamlet of Dai Do after the intense fighting of the Tet Offensive]]
In late January, 1968, during the lunar new year (or “Tet”) holiday, North Vietnamese and communist Viet Cong forces launched a coordinated attack against a number of targets in South Vietnam. The U.S. and South Vietnamese militaries sustained heavy losses before finally repelling the communist assault. The Tet Offensive played an important role in weakening U.S. public support for the war in Vietnam.
====While the US defeated the offensive, it weakened the Johnson Administration====
[[File:Lyndon_B._Johnson.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|President Lydon Johnson]]At the end of the Tet Offensive, both sides had endured losses, and both sides claimed victory. The U.S. and South Vietnamese military response almost completely eliminated the NLF forces and regained all of the lost territoryterritories. At the same time, the Tet Offensive weakened domestic support for the Johnson Administration as the vivid reporting on the Tet Offensive by the U.S. media made clear to the American public that an overall victory in Vietnam was not imminent.
The aftermath of Tet brought public discussions about de-escalation, but not before U.S. generals asked for additional troops for a wide-scale “accelerated pacification program.” Believing that the U.S. was in a position to defeat the North, these military leaders sought to press for a U.S.-South Vietnam offensive. Johnson and others, however, read the situation differently. Johnson announced that the bombing of North Vietnam would cease above the 20th parallel and placed a limit on U.S. troops in South Vietnam. Johnson also attempted to set parameters for peace talks, but it would be several more years before these came to fruition.
====Conclusion====
Within the United States, protests against continued involvement in Vietnam intensified. On March 31, 1968, Johnson announced that he would not seek a second term as president. The job of finding a way out of Vietnam was left to the next U.S. president, Richard Nixon.
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* Republished from [https://history.state.gov/| Office of the Historian, United States Department of State]
* Article: [https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/tet| U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive, 1968]
[[Category:US State Department]] [[Category:Wikis]][[Category:United States History]] [[Category: History of Vietnam]] [[Category:Vietnam War]] [[Category:Cold War History]] [[Category:Diplomatic History]]
