Final answer:
President Lyndon B. Johnson, influenced by media coverage during the Vietnam War and the changing public opinion after events like the Tet Offensive, ultimately decided to negotiate the ending of the war and not seek reelection, marking the end of U.S. escalation in Vietnam.
Step-by-step explanation:
President Lyndon B. Johnson reacted to media coverage of the Vietnam War, often referred to as the Living Room War, by continuing his policy of slow escalation despite the dramatic images and growing public dissent. The media coverage exposed the credibility gap between official government statements and the war's harsh realities. Coverage such as CBS's reporting on the burning of Cam Ne village and the My Lai massacre revelation by Seymour Hersh played significant roles in shaping public perception. However, it wasn't until after the 1968 Tet Offensive that Johnson acknowledged the change in public opinion and announced he would not seek reelection and would negotiate the end of the war.
Johnson's realization of the shift in public mood, notably after losing the trust of influential journalist Walter Cronkite, led him to announce on March 31, 1968, that the U.S. would seek to end the war, effectively ending the escalation policy. The decision highlighted the impact of media coverage and public opinion but was also influenced by internal divisions within the Democratic Party.