THE YEAR THAT ROCKED THE WORLD
Vietnam War with Walter Cronkite – Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3mfXnFtwQc
Vietnam War with Walter Cronkite – Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPmwkprZMic&feature=relmfu
CBS documentary
1968
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3mfXnFtwQc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPmwkprZMic&feature=relmfu
Who created the artifact?
This CBS documentary was created by Walter Cronkite and Ernest Leiser.
When was the artifact created?
In mid-February 1968, Cronkite and Leiser journeyed to Vietnam to cover the aftermath of the Tet Offensive.
Where was it created?
In Vietnam
Why was the document created?
The purpose of this artifact is to bring to American people the drama and horror of the most divisive war in American history.
Why is the document a primary source?
While traveling to Vietnam, Walter Cronkite personally witnessed and documented the events and conditions in aftermath of the Tet Offensive in early 1968.
How trustworthy is the source?
According to an opinion poll, during the 1960s and 1970s Walter Cronkite was often cited as “the most trusted man in America”.
What other questions might you ask of the source in order to better understand what it reveals about the events of 1968?
What was personal interest of Cronkite in producing this work? How powerful was the role of this documentary on the minds of the American people as well as the politics of the US compared to other TV news channels? Have Walter Cronkite received any negative reaction from administration for exposing hopeless situation in Vietnam? Would it be possible for Lyndon Johnson to win reelection in 1968 if Cronkite had not produced his epic film?
If you were going to be constructing an argument about the relationship between the cultural conflict embodied by the artifact you’re presenting and the 1968 election, what other artifacts would you look for?
CBS documentary with Walter Cronkite resulted in explosion of the anti-war movement. American public lost trust in current administration and this movement strongly affected 1968 presidential elections. Besides Cronkite documentary, I would look for prime source pictures of anti-war protests. Also, I would search for original interviews and speeches such as Cronkite’s interview with General Creighton Abrams and presidential address admitting failure in Vietnam. Also, I would use newspaper articles for that time period.
How might you go about finding them?
During my previous assignment, I learned that in order to find primary source documents I would need to search historic archives and databases.
What other background reading would you need to do?
History calls 1968 “The Year That Rocked The World” because it was filled with important events and processes leading to the presidential elections. So, in order to better understand what was happening, I would read books with memoirs and autobiographies of the people who witnessed the events.
What other questions would you ask?
Social conflicts of 1968 have broken the trust of the American public in politics and government administration. After American public has learned that government is unable and, sometimes, unwilling to address social conflicts during 1968, what were the chances that new administrations can win this trust back and not to continue that agenda and policies of the old administration? Were there any realistic ways for the administration to address and possibly solve the social conflicts of 1968?
I think this was the best post regarding to the assignment, she answer all of the questions and is on the right path to construct a historical argument. In addition, I really like how Tatsiana, separated each questions and bolded and answered it individually.
Thank you, Guang
Looks good. I especially liked the posed questions, because I thought about government’s incompetency in my post as well.
Thanks for this very strong post, Tatsiana. Excellent work clearly and effectively answering the series of questions posed in the assignment. Documentary video is not without limits as a primary source, and this is something we may have time to discuss in class. It is a heavily mediated source, in that many decisions were made by not only Chronkite about exactly how to present the material, but also the rest of the production team (videographer, editor, network officials, and perhaps even government officials attempting to alter the final product). However, this does not take away from its importance. As Luke pointed out in class, the degree to which a source is primary is largely determined by the way the source is used (i.e., what question it is used to answer). This source serves as a vital source for understanding the impact the media had on Americans’ views about the war in 1968, and consequently the role that the war played in the 1968 election.
You have done a nice job beginning the process of connecting this single source to the role of cultural conflict in the 1968 election. With more space (say a book!) you could fully develop the line of argument you have started. But in the limited space you have here, you could perhaps add some specificity about the further primary sources you would use to construct an argument about the 1968 election. For instance, you write, “Besides Cronkite documentary, I would look for prime source pictures of anti-war protests. Also, I would search for original interviews and speeches such as Cronkite’s interview with General Creighton Abrams and presidential address admitting failure in Vietnam. Also, I would use newspaper articles for that time period.” I wonder what dates you would you would look for information on from these sources. Understanding the timing of events is essential when dealing with a question such as the role of cultural conflict in a presidential election, since it can drastically change the meaning of those events and the pattern of cause and effect. It sounds like you would be using these additional sources to corroborate the points made in the documentary … I’m curious to hear more.