Domestic Divisions Caused by the Vietnam War

Until the administration of President Lyndon Johnson sharply escalated the military involvement of United States forces in that war in 1965, the domestic antiwar protest movement was weak and scattered, largely a carryover of prior opposition to nuclear atmospheric testing by liberal and radical pacifist organizations and other fringe groups. As the Americanization of the war proceeded without producing demonstrable progress toward officially announced goals, it increasingly polarized American public opinion on the war and energized the antiwar protest movements which grew in size and intensity during the balance of the Johnson administration.

The antiwar protest movement itself was highly diffuse, consisting of many conflicting ideologies and differences of viewpoint, shifting coalitions and leadership changes. Its counter cultural aspects alienated many mainstream Americans. Nevertheless, it helped focus the attention of many in the general public as well as other influential figures, who grew frustrated, impatient and weary over time of the war's inconclusive nature, its brutality and the deceitful practices of the Johnson administration. As a public consensus developed in opposition to the war, the antiwar protest movement lost much of its influence and forward momentum, due to its ow

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largest demonstrations illustrates: April 17, 1965 Washington, D.C. 25,000 April 15, 1997 New York City 300,000 October-November 1969 (nationwide) several million The administration countered the protestors by sending 'truth teams' to college campuses and elsewhere to explain its Vietnam policy. However, they had little impact, mainly because, said Herring, "the President continued to mislead Congress and the public as to the significance of the steps he was taking to" escalate the war. Serious fissures developed within the antiwar movement over ideology and tactics. Leone summarized those differences: Liberals focused on stopping the war, which they believed was unnecessary and harmful to the United States. Radicals saw the Vietnam War as emblematic of a fundamentally unjust and imperialist society that needed radical reconstruction. A minority of antiwar activists supported the cause of the Vietcong . . . and spoke of the need for violent revolution in 'Amerika.' Some opponents of the war favored unilateral American withdrawal while others would be satisfied with a negotiated settlement to end the war. More traditional opponents favored the use of peaceful and conventional political means of pro
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Approximate Word count = 3462
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page)

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