"To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion… It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could." — Walter Cronkite, CBS Evening News, February 27, 1968
Cronkite's editorial followed which event that contradicted official optimism?
- A
The Battle of Hamburger Hill in 1969
- B
The fall of Saigon in 1975
- C
The Cambodian invasion of 1970
- Dcheck_circle
The Tet Offensive launched by North Vietnam and the Viet Cong on January 30, 1968
Explanation
Tet was a tactical defeat for communist forces but a strategic shock to American audiences who had been told the enemy was nearly defeated; it triggered Cronkite's reassessment trip to Vietnam.