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Support for the Vietnam War was high throughout most the 1960s but began to drop rapidly from shortly after the 1968 Tet Offensive - an attack launched by the Viet Cong on several cities in South Vietnam including Saigon where even the US embassy was attacked. The Tet Offensive was filmed and broadcast on TV sets across America. The general public could see clearly the war was not being won like President Johnson and General Westmoreland were promising. The Viet Cong were clearly a very strong presence in the South and they weren't being beaten and couldn't be stopped even when the US were bombing them and piling up high kill counts.

The he public were also horrified by the actions of the army in Vietnam. The ruthless bombing; use of napalm; and the dropping the defoliants on the jungles and people of Vietnam. Furthermore, news of the My Lai massacre (the killing of hundreds of Vietnamese citizens in cold blood by a US platoon in 1968) broke out in 1969. Protests swept through America in response.

In general, the public were beginning to become fed up of a war they weren't winning and began to trust the decision makers less and less. 1960s counter-culture had reached its height and the youth and students of America were protesting more often and in greater numbers with added violence.

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