11. The War at Home

Question 1

What were the four main causes of the growing number of anti-war protestors?

Answer 1

1. Role of the media
2. Growing “credibility gap”
3. Baby-boomer world view
4. Cost of war

Question 2

After which event did the anti-war movement formally begin?

Answer 2

• Gulf of Tonkin (1964) = led to increasing opposition to U.S. intervention
• War Resisters League sceptical about the incident, oppose bombing North Vietnam and the draft
• Formal beginning of the anti-war movement = burning draft cards
• Increase in anti-war movement in 1965 as LBJ increases the number of troops and bombing in Vietnam

Question 3

What was the social makeup of the anti-war movement and how did they protest against the war in Vietnam?

Answer 3

• Not a single movement, no common leadership/ideology
• Mix of cultures, religions, social groups, ages, feminists, civil rights groups etc.
• Students play an incredibly important and vocal role
• Different types of protests = letters, draft resistance, petitions, civil disobedience, self-immolation

Question 4

Why was there a breakdown in U.S. domestic consensus and what effect did this have?

Answer 4

• Media = a living room war
• 1968 = first time the majority of U.S. citizens disagreed with the President’s war policy
• Belief that the Vietnam War is unwinnable
• Credibility gap = perception that administration is lying to them
• Policy rested on general consensus, Congress approval, money poured into foreign policy
• Limits LBJ’s military options

Question 5

How did the anti-war movement continue to impact public perception of the Vietnam War?

Answer 5

• Protests kept LBJ’s policies and Vietnam on the front page
• War loses popular support, October 1967 = 28% support
• Mass demonstrations become public place
• State repression = Chicago 7, Kent State 1970 etc.
• Reappraisal of foreign policy in Congress and by the Pentagon

Question 6

How significant were students and the youth counterculture in the anti-war movement?

Answer 6

• University boycotts of army recruiters, burning draft cards etc.
• Baby-boomers, born after WW2
• Counterculture = hippies, music, films (e.g. Bonnie and Clyde, Easy Rider)
• Feelings of alienation and betrayal
• Clashes with the police
• Liberation from traditional establishments
• 1967 Summer of Love
• Doesn’t represent all young people
• Difference between students and counterculture

Question 7

What happened at the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention?

Answer 7

• 10,000 protestors
• Nominate a pig
• Major Richard Daley mobilises the National Guard and police to break up the demonstration
• Press calls it a police riot who attacked protestors
• “The whole world is watching”

Question 8

What was the Pentagon Paper in 1971 and how did this further alienate the public?

Answer 8

• Leaked classified information
• History of U.S. in South-East Asia = neglected opportunities to negotiate, covered up military operation (e.g. My Lai)
• Showed the government was lying to the public