During most of America's history war has been glorified. Whether for political or economic reasons, the government has presented the option of war as real and necessary for the
survival of the union. However, the attitude of embracing war has not necessarily been the typical one. In each of America's conflicts, large segments of the population have been critical of the war effort, and even larger numbers have been apathetic.
After World War II and the Atomic Age, though, the attitude toward warfare changed. No longer was one government simply stating that it had the power or might to destroy another government. The stakes had jumped to even higher levels - mankind was now capable of destroying all of mankind.
Some scholars have commented that the voices of those who protested America's involvement in war, "sometimes muted but often strident and occasionally significant, [were] as much the heritage of the United States as its people's patriotism" (Coline i). This paper will present an overview of the American Anti-War Movement during the years of the Vietnam Conflict. This paper will examine and explore the following: America's involvement in Vietnam, the Selective Service Act, the conscientious objectors, war resisters, the Anti-War Movement, impact of academia and the media on the peace movement, the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and the Kent State University fiasco. The paper will conclude with a view of Vietnam veterans, Richard Nixon and his policies, and the legacy of Vietnam.
America's role as a leader in the international defense of democracy was firmly entrenched in the years following World War II. In various areas around the world, the Cold War had escalated into limited conflict, with the United States sending arms, aid, and sometimes troops to attempt to keep the scourge of communism at bay.
In 1963, Lyndon Johnson entered the White House with the hopes of continuing the policies in Southeas...