I kinda agree. We were the W.W. II "greatest generation" or closely associated with it (dependents) in those days. Bob J's statement is correct with qualifiers, IMO.
Your statement about the leadership is correct, also The massive retaliation of the 1950s had given way to measured response.
You may remember Scotty Reston. His writings trace our decision to confront "wars of liberation" in Vietnam to Kennedy's humiliation by Khrushchev in Vienna (1961). By 1963 the US has 16,000 servicemen in Vietnam. Much too timid considering the threat, like Cuba and Kennedy's Bay of Pigs. Ike would have done it right.
Though Korea showed us that wars will be "limited" nevertheless we expected victory and our forces delivered defeating the Chi-coms. Mao wanted desperately to show the world that he could defeat the entire U.S. Eighth Army. To wit, "Mao Telegram to Stalin re the Decision to Send ... troops to annihilate the American troops in Korea, principally the Eighth Army. . . ."
The point is, the public was caught flat footed, IMO. On the surface, i.e., in the mainstream press, "the American public [believed] it wasn't worth fighting." That's all that was being reported especially on TV "news" and from 1968 on.
I am absolutely convinced that most Americans were just dumb in the sense that they were silenced. We were hoodwinked. We had never lost a war. Americans, especially Washington and our press, had never betrayed our military. It wasn't happening. It'll be okay? But politicians heard only the press and the "anti-war" demonstrators.
The leftist pig vomit fooled us once. Shame on them.
I have no disagreement with anything Bob says about the looney left and it's villainous consequences. Where I draw the line is saying that they were the cause of us losing the VN war. IMHO, we lost the war for one very basic reason and that would be the total lack of resolve to win the war. That can only be attributed to the top man and his #1 lieutenant.
We now have the war on terror because of the spineless dimocRAT we had for 8 years. It takes a man of resolve, conviction and character to direct a war. LBJ had none of the above and we paid a dear price for that fact.