Hillstrom K., Hillstrom L.C. Vietnam war. Almanac

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October 31, one week before the presidential election, Johnson

announced a complete bombing halt in North Vietnam. But

this decision failed to lift Humphrey to victory. Instead, Nixon

narrowly defeated him for the White House.

“Americans had voted for what they perceived as a

solid law and order Republican candidate who also promised

peace in Vietnam,” writes Elizabeth Becker in America’s Viet-

nam War: A Narrative History. “After a year that had brought the

Tet Offensive, two assassinations, inner-city riots following the

King murder, and the Chicago convention, the public wanted

an end to the war and to the strife at home.” As Nixon pre-

pared to take office, Americans all across the country hoped

that he would be able to guide the nation out of Vietnam and

heal the divisions that had wracked so many communities.

Sources

Andradé, Dale. Ashes to Ashes: The Phoenix Program and the Vietnam War.

Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1990.

Becker, Elizabeth. America’s Vietnam War: A Narrative History. New York:

Clarion Books, 1992.

Braestrup Peter. Big Story: How the American Press and Television Reported

and Interpreted the Crisis of Tet 1968 in Vietnam and Washington. Boul-

der, CO: Westview Press, 1977.

Caute, David. The Year of the Barricades: A Journey Through 1968. New York:

Harper & Row, 1988.

Clifford, Clark M. Counsel to the President: A Memoir. New York: Random

House, 1991.

Clifford, Clark M. “A Vietnam Reappraisal” in Foreign Affairs, July 1969.

Dougan, Clark, and Stephen Weiss. The American Experience in Vietnam.

Boston: Boston Publishing, 1988.

Dougan, Clark, and Stephen Weiss. The Vietnam Experience: Nineteen Sixty-

Eight. Boston: Boston Publishing, 1985.

Gitlin, Todd. The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage. New York: Bantam, 1987.

Herr, Michael. Dispatches. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977.

Herring, George C. LBJ and Vietnam: A Different Kind of War. Austin: Uni-

versity of Texas Press, 1994.

Johnson, Lyndon B. The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency,

1963–1969. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971.

130 Vietnam War: Almanac

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Maclear, Michael. The Ten Thousand Day War: Vietnam, 1945–1975. New

York: Avon Books, 1981.

Oberdorfer, Don. Tet! New York: Doubleday, 1971.

Prados, John, and Ray Stubbe. Valley of Decision: The Siege of Khe Sanh. New

York: Houghton Mifflin, 1991.

Spector, Ronald H. After Tet: The Bloodiest Year in Vietnam. New York: Free

Press, 1993.

Turley, William S. The Second Indochina War: A Short Political and Military

History, 1954–1975. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1986.

Wells, Tom. The War Within: America’s Battle over Vietnam. Berkeley: Uni-

versity of California Press, 1994.

Westmoreland, William. A Soldier Reports. New York: Doubleday, 1976.

The Tet Offensive (1968) 131

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he Vietnam War divided the American people more than

any other event since the American Civil War (1861–65).

In the early years of U.S. involvement, most people supported

the government’s policies. But as the war dragged on and

more American soldiers were killed or wounded, increasing

numbers of Americans began to oppose the war. During the

late 1960s and early 1970s, the antiwar movement gained

strength and people opposed to the war became more vocal in

their protests.

“Opposition began among pacifists [individuals who

believe that disputes can be solved peacefully] in the political

fringe . . . but then spread to students, academics, artists, intel-

lectuals, clergy, civil rights activists, writers, politicians, jour-

nalists, and entertainers,” Randy Roberts and James S. Olson

explain in the Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War. “Some

demanded an end to the war because they felt it was immoral,

others because it was poorly conceived and unwinnable, and

still others because the United States refused to employ the full

range of its military power to achieve a military victory. By the

early 1970s, opposition to the Vietnam War was endemic

133

The American Antiwar

Movement

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[native] to American political culture, affecting almost every

segment of American society.”

During the Vietnam War, disagreements arose among

the various groups involved in the antiwar movement. Some

groups favored radical and violent forms of protest, while

others felt that nonviolent resistance was the best option.

These disagreements reduced the movement’s effectiveness

as well as its popularity among the American people. As the

United States gradually reduced its military presence in Viet-

nam in the mid–1970s, the antiwar movement faded away.

But there is little doubt that it had a lasting impact on Amer-

ican society.

134 Vietnam War: Almanac

Communism A political system in which the

government controls all resources and

means of producing wealth. By elimi-

nating private property, this system is

designed to create an equal society with

no social classes. However, Communist

governments in practice often limit per-

sonal freedom and individual rights.

North Vietnam The Geneva Accords of

1954, which ended the First Indochina

War (1946–54), divided the nation of

Vietnam into two sections. The north-

ern section, which was led by a Com-

munist government under Ho Chi

Minh, was officially known as the

Democratic Republic of Vietnam, but

was usually called North Vietnam.

Silent Majority A term used by U.S. Presi-

dent Richard Nixon to describe the

large number of American people he

believed quietly supported his Vietnam

War policies. In contrast, Nixon referred

to the antiwar movement in the United

States as a vocal minority.

South Vietnam Created under the Geneva

Accords of 1954, the southern section

of Vietnam was known as the Republic

of South Vietnam. It was led by a U.S.-

supported government.

Viet Cong Vietnamese Communist guerilla

fighters who worked with the North

Vietnamese Army to conquer South

Vietnam.

Vietnamization A policy proposed by U.S.

President Richard Nixon that involved

returning responsibility for the war to

the South Vietnamese. It was intended

to allow the United States to reduce its

military involvement without allowing

the country to fall to communism.

Words to Know

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Scattered voices protest early

U.S. involvement

During the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations

of the 1950s and early 1960s, most American citizens supported

the government’s decision to provide economic aid and mili-

tary advisors to South Vietnam. The American people worried

about the spread of communism around the world. For this rea-

son, they believed that the U.S. government was attempting to

prevent South Vietnam from coming under the control of

Communist-led forces from North Vietnam. But U.S. military

involvement in Vietnam grew steadily in the early 1960s, and

so did the number of people who spoke out against it.

When the United States first became involved in Viet-

nam, the people who opposed the government’s policies primar-

ily represented traditional pacifist groups. These groups—which

The American Antiwar Movement 135

Ho Chi Minh (1890–1969) Vietnamese

Communist leader who led Viet Minh

forces in opposing French rule and

became the first president of North

Vietnam in 1954. He also led the North

during the Vietnam War until his death.

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) After

serving as vice president under John

Kennedy, he became the 36th presi-

dent of the United States after Kennedy

was assassinated in 1963. Johnson sent

U.S. combat troops to Vietnam. Oppo-

sition to his policies convinced him not

to seek re-election in 1968.

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) Served as the

35th president of the United States from

1960 until he was assassinated in 1963.

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968)

African American leader of the civil

rights movement who opposed the

Vietnam War. Worked to link the civil

rights and antiwar movements before

he was assassinated in 1968.

Ngo Dinh Diem (1901–1963) Vietnamese

political leader who became president

of South Vietnam in 1954. He gradually

lost the support of the United States

and was killed following the overthrow

of his government in 1963.

Richard M. Nixon (1913–1994) Elected as

the 37th president of the United States

in 1969, at the height of the Vietnam

War. Resigned from office during the

Watergate scandal in 1974.

People to Know

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tended to oppose all war on moral or

religious grounds—included members of

the Quaker religion (also known as the

Society of Friends), the Fellowship of

Reconciliation (FOR), and the War

Resisters League (WRL). These groups

spoke out against the Vietnam War in

the early 1960s, just as they had spoken

out against World War II (1939–45) and

the Korean War (1950– 53). They

protested against the growing numbers

of American military advisors being sent

to Vietnam, and they asked the U.S. gov-

ernment to try to negotiate a settlement

between North and South Vietnam.

Most leaders within the U.S.

government favored taking a strong

stand against communism. They

believed that America’s future

depended on supporting democratic

principles and governments around the

world. But there were a few key govern-

ment officials who questioned the wis-

dom of becoming involved in a war in

Vietnam. Some officials believed that

the revolution taking place in Vietnam

was a struggle for independence after

many years of foreign rule. They knew

that the leader of North Vietnam, Ho

Chi Minh (1890–1969), held Commu-

nist beliefs. But they thought he was

unlikely to align himself with other

Communist governments, like the Soviet Union, after fighting

so long for Vietnamese independence. Other American officials

felt uncomfortable supporting the South Vietnamese govern-

ment because its leader, President Ngo Dinh Diem (1901–1963),

was not willing to make democratic reforms.

One of the earliest opponents of U.S. involvement was

George Ball, who served as undersecretary of state in the

Kennedy administration. When President Kennedy (1917–1963;

president 1960–1963) decided to send an 8,000-man task force to

South Vietnam in 1961, Ball warned that the United States might

136 Vietnam War: Almanac

Hawks vs. Doves

The terms “hawks” and “doves”

were used to describe different

government officials based on their views

of the Vietnam War. In general, hawks

supported the U.S. government’s reasons

for sending troops to Vietnam, and they

were willing to take whatever steps were

necessary to win the war. Prominent

hawks included Secretary of State Dean

Rusk (1909–1994) and National Security

Advisor Walt Rostow (1916– ).

In contrast, doves opposed U.S.

military involvement. Some questioned

the importance of Vietnam to U.S.

interests, while others did not believe the

United States could win the war. Doves

pressured government leaders to end the

bombing of North Vietnam, negotiate a

settlement, and bring the American

troops home. Some of the most

prominent doves included Senator

George McGovern (1922– ) and Senator

William Fulbright (1905–1995).

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be drawn into a war it could never win.

“Once large numbers of U.S. troops are

committed to direct combat, they will

begin to take heavy casualties in a war

they are ill-equipped to fight in a non-

cooperative if not downright hostile

countryside,” Ball wrote in a memo.

“Once we suffer large casualties, we will

have started a [nearly] irreversible

process. Our involvement will be so great

that we cannot—without national humil-

iation—stop short of achieving our com-

plete objectives. Of the two possibilities I

think humiliation would be more likely

than the achievement of our objectives—

even after we have paid terrible costs.”

In addition to pacifist groups

and a few government advisors, some

members of the media criticized early

U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Govern-

ment leaders depended on the press to

give the American people its official

view of the conflict. But a few reporters

who covered Vietnam in the early

1960s—such as David Halberstam of the

New York Times, Neil Sheehan of United

Press International, Peter Arnett of

Associated Press, and Stanley Karnow of

Time—presented a less positive view of

the situation. They noted that Diem’s

government was corrupt and unpopu-

lar, and warned that Communist gueril-

las (guerrillas are small groups of fight-

ers who launch surprise attacks) known

as the Viet Cong (VC) controlled large

areas of the South Vietnamese countryside.

Opposition grows after U.S. sends

combat troops

After President Kennedy was assassinated, Lyndon B.

Johnson (1908–1973; president 1963–1969) became president

The American Antiwar Movement 137

George W. Ball was one of

the earliest opponents of

U.S. involvement in the

Vietnam War.

Reproduced by permission of

the Library of Congress.

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of the United States in November 1963. In early 1965, John-

son increased U.S. involvement in Vietnam by starting bomb-

ing raids and sending combat troops. Before this time, Amer-

icans had acted only as military advisors to the South

Vietnamese forces.

At first, most American citizens supported the presi-

dent’s decision to expand the U.S. role in Vietnam. They

expected that the American troops, with their superior

weapons and training, would quickly drive the Viet Cong

forces out of South Vietnam. But before long, people started to

feel the effects of the war. More than 180,000 American troops

had been sent to Vietnam by the end of 1965, and Johnson

planned to send 160,000 more in 1966. As more American

troops saw combat, more reports of casualties (dead and

wounded soldiers) came back to the United States. Young men

across the country began to worry that they might be selected

for military service in the draft.

Opposition to the war started to grow after Johnson

sent American troops to Vietnam. One of the traditional paci-

fist groups, the WRL, organized the first nationwide demon-

stration against the war. A group of religious leaders formed a

new organization, called Clergy and Laity Concerned About

Vietnam (CALCAV), that opposed the war on moral grounds.

More than thirty other antiwar organizations formed during

1965, as more and more Americans began to disagree with

Johnson’s policies. Many of these antiwar groups joined

together under the National Coordinating Committee to End

the War in Vietnam.

The involvement of the United States in the Vietnam

War became particularly unpopular on college campuses. One

factor in the campus unrest was that college students were the

right age to be drafted into the military. In addition, college

professors and other well-educated Americans tended to fol-

low politics more closely than other segments of society. These

factors led both professors and students to question the gov-

ernment’s policies. In March 1965, a group of faculty at the

University of Michigan organized a “teach-in” about the Viet-

nam War. With 3,500 students in attendance, they discussed

the causes of the war and the effects of U.S. policies. Before

long, antiwar teach-ins were occurring on a number of other

college campuses.

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One of the most prominent antiwar groups was Stu-

dents for a Democratic Society (SDS). This group, which was

largely composed of college students, had been active in seek-

ing equal rights and opportunities for African Americans dur-

ing the civil rights movement. Once President Johnson sent

combat troops into Vietnam, SDS changed its focus to protest-

ing against the war. “We feel that the war is immoral at its root,

that it is fought alongside a regime with no claim to represent

its people, and that it is foreclosing the hope of making Amer-

ica a decent and truly democratic society,” declared the SDS

mission statement. In April 1965, SDS held a rally in Washing-

ton, D.C., that attracted 20,000 protesters.

Opposition to the war also grew within the civil rights

movement. Many black leaders had initially supported the

U.S. government’s decision to send troops to Vietnam. Some

black leaders were reluctant to criticize President Johnson

because they believed he supported their call for civil rights.

But before long, many civil rights leaders began to change

The American Antiwar Movement 139

Civil rights leader Martin

Luther King, Jr., became

an outspoken opponent

of the Vietnam War.

Reproduced by permission

of the Library of Congress.

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their minds about Vietnam. They noticed that the war drew

government attention and resources away from programs

designed to reduce discrimination and poverty. They also grew

concerned about the high number of African American casu-

alties in the war. Black men were more likely to be drafted than

whites, and they were more likely to be assigned to dangerous

combat duty. As a result, black soldiers accounted for twenty-

five percent of Americans killed in Vietnam in 1965 and 1966,

even though they made up only thirteen to fourteen percent

of all U.S. forces.

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968)

began speaking out against the war in July 1965. As it became

clear that the African American community was bearing more

than its share of the losses in Vietnam, several civil rights groups

joined the antiwar movement. In 1966, heavyweight boxing

champion Muhammad Ali (1942–) announced that he would

refuse to serve in the army if he was drafted. He followed up on

this promise by ignoring his draft notice the following year.

Although Ali was stripped of his title and his boxing license, he

became a prominent symbol of resistance to the war.

March on the Pentagon

The size of U.S. forces stationed in Vietnam continued

to grow in 1966 and 1967, eventually reaching more than

500,000 troops. But these forces did not seem to be gaining

much ground against the Viet Cong. Disturbed by the ever-

growing number of American soldiers killed and wounded,

some government leaders began questioning U.S. policy. Sev-

eral prominent Republican members of Congress—including

Senator George Aiken (1892–1984) of Vermont, Senator Clif-

ford Case (1904–1982) of New Jersey, and Senator Mark Hat-

field (1922–) of Oregon—spoke out against the war. Of course,

President Johnson, a Democrat, expected to receive criticism

from members of the opposing political party. But then several

prominent Democrats began to express their doubts about the

war as well. Democratic leaders who withdrew their support

from the president included Senator Mike Mansfield (1903–) of

Montana, Senator Robert Kennedy (1925–1968) of New York,

and Senator Eugene McCarthy (1916–) of Minnesota.

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