PSCI 131 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Status Symbol, Operation Rolling Thunder, Tet Offensive
Document Summary
Lecture 9: us fp and the korean war, did public opinion play an important role in shaping the vietnam war, how have the shifts in the media influenced public opinion. Strongpoint v. perimeter: nsc-68 - april 14th 1950, embraces perimeter defense, perceptions become critical - us must maintain vision of strength (cid:862)a defeat any(cid:449)here is a defeat e(cid:448)ery(cid:449)here(cid:863, us strategy and the korean war. Looks like they only attacked because of exclusion. Johnson"s pu(cid:271)li(cid:272) opinion strategy: to convince the public that the us is winning at a reasonable cost, to not scare them, does not declare war, does not use the bully pulpit to stir up war fever. Leads to strategy of denial: denies he escalates the war as he escalates it, march 1965 - us goes on offensive for the first time. Nv are being ground down, so where did they get so many forces for the attack: claims of victory met with skepticism.
