Antiwar Movement

Domestic protest movement (1965–73) that formed in opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Not only was the Vietnam War the longest war fought in U.S. history, it also produced the largest and most successful American antiwar movement. The antiwar movement forced the U.S. government to deal with public opinion about the war at home at the same time it was prosecuting military action overseas. The movement also established connections with other initiatives for social change and transformation such as the civil rights movement.

The antiwar movement began in 1965 as a result of increased bombing of North Vietnam by the United States. Widespread protests and increasingly intense public opposition forced the United States to halt the bombing briefly. Meanwhile, those seeking to frame their support for the war as “support for our boys in Vietnam” found their position increasingly undermined by the behavior of the troops themselves. Soldiers began displaying peace symbols, in addition to more serious acts such as demonstrating, deserting, and even murdering commanding officers.

The movement soon became a serious problem for President Lyndon B. Johnson, who sought to undermine it using the legal system to restrict the activities [Page 29]of demonstrators. By 1967, however, the antiwar movement had become part of a broad spectrum of social change concerning attitudes toward sex, race relations, gender roles, and the use of illegal drugs. A counterculture of young people rebelled against the war as part of a general rejection of the values and expectations of the generations preceding them. The counterculture and its slogans, such as “Give Peace a Chance,” became an inseparable part of the antiwar movement. The term “new left” was attached to increasingly radical groups such as Students for a Democratic Society and the Chicago Seven.

Counterculture youth were not the only ones opposed to the war. Opposition became increasingly mainstream, and public opinion polls revealed that barely a quarter of the country supported President Johnson's policies. Acts of protest and civil disobedience demonstrated the increased power and influence of the antiwar movement. These culminated in a march on the Pentagon in 1967 organized by the National Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam.

In 1968, North Vietnamese forces launched a major attack known as the Tet Offensive. The unexpected size and strength of the attack led many Americans to conclude that Johnson had vastly oversold the progress of the U.S. military in Vietnam and that the war was a very long way from being over. As a result of these military and public opinion setbacks, Johnson decided not to run for reelection in 1968. He was replaced on the Democratic ticket by his vice president, Hubert Humphrey. The subsequent Democratic National Convention in Chicago was marred by antiwar demonstrations consisting of pitched battles between police and protesters.

During the presidential campaign, Republican candidate Richard Nixon promised to eliminate the draft and end the war. After winning the election, however, it became increasingly clear that Nixon was actually prolonging the war instead of seeking to end it quickly. The U.S. invasion of Cambodia in May 1970 gave further momentum to antiwar sentiment. That same month, Ohio National Guardsmen shot and killed four students during an antiwar protest at Kent State University. The killings set off a wave of university protests across the nation, with more than 150 colleges going on strike.

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