Asses the view that political factors best explain the American withdrawal from Vietnam.

The Vietnam War was a humiliating defeat for America. It was the first televised war which significantly changed how the U.S. public viewed international conflict and has remained an embarrassing debacle for America to this day. Political factors both in America and Vietnam were key to America's withdrawal from the war, for example, the mismanagement of the war under the Johnson administration, and the lowering of investment at key points in the war, put America in a weak political position. However, political factors alone cannot be blamed for America's withdrawal. America's military and strategic failures, such as misunderstanding the Vietnamese tactics and terrain, and the strengths of the Viet Cong, such as their guerrilla warfare tactics, were also instrumental in America's defeat and withdrawal. Furthermore, although it is often downplayed, the media coverage of the war and the subsequent anti-war protests that arose out of the outrage and horror sparked by the gory and tragic images of the conflict broadcast into American homes turned American public opinion against the war. This further forced America to withdraw from Vietnam. Therefore, overall, the American withdrawal from Vietnam was not down to political factors alone; the withdrawal can only be explained through a nuanced combination of political, military and strategic, and homefront factors.