In late 1967, General William Westmoreland, Gommander of the American forces in Vietnam, claimed that the war effort was nearing its successful end. Yet, on January 30, 1968, the North Vietnamese unleashed a massive surprise assault on major urban centers in Southern Vietnam, while American military attention had been focused further north at Khe Sanh. Striking thirty-six of forty-four provincial capitals in South Vietnam, including the American embassy, the Tet Offensive was intended to create a general uprising across the south. Though the offensive failed, the effect on American morale was devastating. Television brought the chaos of the war into American homes, and the offensive galvanized national antiwar sentiment.