Vietnam, Protest, and Counterculture 469the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Earle Wheeler, to Saigon at the end of the month.
Wheeler arrived back in the U.S. on February 27th, 1968, the same day that
the famous newsman Walter Cronkite–the most respected reporter in the coun-
try [with a level of influence akin to Oprah Winfrey today] went on TV with
a special report detailing American failures in Vietnam and calling for an end
to the war.
While Wheeler would later accuse Cronkite of exaggerating the problems
in Vietnam, the JCS Chairman himself found the enemy strong and capable
of continuing its attacks, while the southern army had lost about one-fourth
of its pre-Tet strength. The pacification program had been badly undermined.
And the government’s effectiveness was obviously in question, especially as it
confronted the massive problems of refugees and reconstruction. “In short,”
Wheeler concluded, “it was a very near thing.” Harold K. Johnson did not
resort to euphemism. “We suffered a loss,” he cabled Westmoreland, “there
can be no doubt about it.” Clearly then, later claims that Tet was a great U.S.
victory are moot. American leaders in early 1968 did not have time for the
FIGuRE 9-11 President Johnson announces to the nation his decision not to
run for re-election, March 31, 1968