TET Offensive Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

TET Offensive - Essay Example Johnson, upon assuming the Presidency after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, inherited not only Kennedy's social reform policies but also the United States' involvement in Vietnam. He had never wanted to become a 'war president'. His primary objective had been to ensure a legacy of a president who gave his country social reform policies and programs devoted to establishing the 'Great Society' and first three years saw him work almost exclusively towards achieving it.2 This solitary concentration cost him conscientiousness with regard to the Vietnam Conflict. During the first three years Johnson was responsible for establishing groundbreaking strides in the Civil Rights Movement, development of programs to provide training for the poor, such as Job Corps and VISTA, establishment of the Medicare/Medicaid Programs, and creation of educational enrichment programs for disadvantaged children such as Head Start, to name just a few3; Ironically, however, these programs which would come to become an intrinsic part of American society, is not what Johnson is remembered for. He as a President is responsible for leading the United States into the longest period of continuous armed battle in its history - The Vietnam Conflict. ... In simpler words, he underestimated the commitment and investment that were necessary for launching a sustained Vietnam Conflict.4 Although the TET offensive is hailed by many as the turning point of the war, its political ramifications were laid years earlier. During an address at John Hopkins University in 1965, LBJ stated "We fight because we must fight it [the Vietnam Conflict] if we are to live in a world where every country can shape its own destiny. And only in such a world will our own freedom be finally secure".5 In fact, the United States' entry into Vietnam was anything but altruistic in nature. America involved itself for purely political motives, and in Johnson's defense the events leading up to it did predate his presidency. However, he escalated the political stakes and ultimately lost. The war in Vietnam was not a war of major battle engagements, although at times there were some. Vietnam was more of guerrilla warfare. There were neither defined battle lines nor set plans. With the Vietcong's endless manpower supply, they were able; it seemed, to hold America, the 'super power' at bay indefinitely. By February of 1966 General Westmoreland asked for a significant increase in manpower. What had begun as several thousand American soldiers had by this time escalated to over 400,000 combatants in Vietnam with no end in sight.Johnson, at this point, began to see his folly. He was stuck. On one hand he had to finance an ever increasing international war and on the other, his domestic commitment to social reform program, the Great Society. With no scope to compromise, he was trying to balance between the American public's acceptance and his power to exert his will upon them. Although he had avowed

America's Court Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

America's Court - Essay Example As observed in the preface, Supreme Court justices and all other holders of positions under the federal judiciary are tenured to serve for as long as they live and can only be ousted from office by impeachment, a process which has not dismissed yet from the service any justice of the United States Supreme Court. The justices are not as particular as with the high officials in the executive and legislative branches of the United States government as far as concerning media releases. They are of the contention that what is more important is that the public, the lawyers and the judges, both in the federal and state levels, know and understand the rationale and wisdom in their decisions and the opinions stated therein. That explains why the high court did not have formal office for more than a hundred years that would supposedly attend to media matters. However, Chief Justice Warren Burger, with his activist stance, was personally of the view that the press sector could not just be simpl y disregarded. The Supreme Court was provided with its own building in 1935. It was only during this time that the judicial highness hired a Press Clerk in the person of one Banning Whittington, once a reporter of the United Press. The move was intended to accommodate the resident press people. Ultimately, it was deemed necessary to have a Public Information Officer who would connect and relate with and between the judiciary branch, the press, the public and, at times, the people from the movie industry. The justices then believed that the person to fill up the position should not be a lawyer in order to avoid a situation where the latter might venture into giving opinions to the inquiring public with regards to a decision or pending resolution of the high court. Along that line, a situation where the personal interpretation of the office holder might pose