Tet Offensive (January-February 1968)

During the Vietnamese New Year (Tet), Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces launched massive coordinated attacks across South Vietnam, including in Saigon (where they briefly seized parts of the U.S. embassy compound). Militarily the Tet Offensive was a U.S. victory; the attackers suffered enormous losses and were driven back. Politically it was a devastating American defeat. The American public, told for years that the war was being won, now saw that the enemy could mount large-scale attacks throughout the country. Public support for the war collapsed. President Johnson, weakened, announced he would not seek re-election.