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The Tet Offensive in January of 1968 [...] made the war unpopular. American corporate elites decided at that point that it just wasn't worth it, it was too costly, let's pull out. So at that time everybody became an opponent of the war because the orders from on high were that you were supposed to be opposed to it. And after that every single memoirist radically changed their story about what had happened. They all concocted this story that their hero, John F. Kennedy, was really planning to pull out of this unpopular war before he was killed and then Johnson changed it. If you look at the earlier memoirs, not a hint, I mean literally.

Noam Chomsky#80

WarHistoryMediaPropagandaMemory

About this quote

What does it mean?
After the Tet Offensive made the war unpopular, elites decided to leave, and memoirs changed to fit the new story.
In plain terms
When war costs got too high, leaders changed the story.
What can you take from it?
Stories change to fit elite interests.

Where it applies

  • reading history
  • studying media

Putting it to work

  • compare memoirs over time
  • track policy shifts

Questions to consider

  • How do stories change?
  • Who controls history?

Another view

It dismisses genuine shifts in public opinion.

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