THE GRADUAL ESCALATION STRATEGY DURING THE VIETNAM WAR AND ITS FAILURE Shi Yinhong（94） The gradual escalation of bombing North Vietnam was closely related to the massive ground war in South Vietnam and was used as an instrument for the U.S. to win the war. Its failure could be attributed to the resistance of the Vietnamese people against the United States, but it was the American public that forced the U.S. Government to abandon the strategy and finally to withdraw from Vietnam. The limit to American media's tolerance of a quick and all-out strike on North Vietnam and the possibility of China's participation in the war were two major factors restricting President Johnson's actions.