ABSTRACT
The enemy’s actions alone do not explain the change that occurred in America. There was a series of events, however, which served to amplify the Tet Offensive. When someone in a position of trust is found to have been disingenuous, that person will lose credibility. So it was with General Westmoreland and the intelligence community. In 1967, General Westmoreland, backed by the intelligence community, told the American public that the enemy was ‘bankrupt’ and the end of America’s involvement in the Vietnam was in sight. The Tet Offensive revealed this forecast to be illusionary; the enemy was not ‘bankrupt,’ and America’s military appeared to be stuck in an endless Vietnamese quagmire. General Westmoreland and the intelligence community lost credibility in the eyes of America. Their words were not trusted and their cause became suspect. The American people’s perception of the war and their willingness to continue the fight changed.
