![]() American troops eventually started to return home as Vietnamization and negotiation eventually took center stage. Many people claim that Cronkite’s critical editorial may have been on of the last straws to convince the President not to run for reelection.Īlthough the war continued for years, a United States “surge” in troop levels - let alone a nuclear option - was no longer thinkable. Cronkite, who had already captivated the hearts of American’s with his previous broadcasts, such as the JFK assassination, had now cast serious doubt about the United States’ mission in Vietnam.įollowing Cronkite’s editorial report, President Lyndon Johnson is claimed by some to have said, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.” Weeks later, President Johnson announced that he wasn’t going to be running for a second term as President. He suggested to the viewers that the only way that the war would end would be to negotiate. In his editorial, now immortalized as “We Are Mired in Stalemate” Cronkite basically said that he now believed the war to be unwinnable. Up until that point, Cronkite had avoided expressing any personal opinions on-air. People were hearing a very different Cronkite than they had become accustomed to. This break of character was such a personal departure, that the nation was stunned at what they heard. On Feburary 27, 1968, he summed up his trip to Vietnam at the end of his CBS Special Report, Report from Vietnam: Who, What, When, Where, Why? with a rare editorial report. Murray Fromson, a former CBS news correspondent who spent time with Kronkite in Vietnam said that Cronkite became troubled by the visual images he was seeing in vietnam contrasting with what president Johnson was telling the American public.Ĭronkite was always a staunch defender of the CBS Evening News as a balanced, unbiased, presentation of events. ![]() Before his report, Cronkite was known as a warhawk, and supported American involvement in the overseas conflict. In February 1968, Cronkite’s Executive Producer at CBS urged Cronkite to travel with him to Vietnam to cover the aftermath of the Tet Offensive. ![]()
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