Book contents
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume II
- General Introduction
- Introduction
- Part I Battlefields
- Part II Homefronts
- 14 Dominoes Abroad and at Home
- 15 LBJ, the Great Society, and Vietnam
- 16 Politics in South Vietnam, 1963–1968
- 17 Domestic Politics in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, 1963–1968
- 18 The Antiwar Movement in the United States
- 19 Vietnam and American Race Relations
- 20 Prowar Sentiment in the United States
- 21 The US News Media and Vietnam
- 22 The South Vietnamese Homefront
- 23 The North Vietnamese Homefront
- Part III Global Vietnam
- Index
20 - Prowar Sentiment in the United States
from Part II - Homefronts
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2025
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume II
- General Introduction
- Introduction
- Part I Battlefields
- Part II Homefronts
- 14 Dominoes Abroad and at Home
- 15 LBJ, the Great Society, and Vietnam
- 16 Politics in South Vietnam, 1963–1968
- 17 Domestic Politics in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, 1963–1968
- 18 The Antiwar Movement in the United States
- 19 Vietnam and American Race Relations
- 20 Prowar Sentiment in the United States
- 21 The US News Media and Vietnam
- 22 The South Vietnamese Homefront
- 23 The North Vietnamese Homefront
- Part III Global Vietnam
- Index
Summary
From the outset, US military intervention in Vietnam provoked popular campaigns and mass rallies in support of the United States global anticommunist agenda. While these early initiatives were often orchestrated by rightwing activists long versed in the practices of populist anticommunism, the burgeoning of domestic opposition to the war intensified and greatly diversified prowar activism. Appealing to patriotism, conservative leaders rallied popular support in favor of total victory but later endorsed Richard Nixon’s call for “peace with honor.” As the war dragged on, internal divisions eroded the confidence of prowar conservatives in achieving their aims and forced them to reevaluate the political viability of their hardline Cold War rhetoric. Rightwing activists still managed to make use of grassroots patriotic campaigns to marshal support for the war, particularly among white ethnic workers opposed to the antiwar movement and wider social changes. In so doing, conservatives altered the nature and direction of their agenda, and furthered a new majoritarian political coalition. This chapter explores the origins and nature of these grassroots campaigns in support of the Vietnam War and demonstrates that the groundwork for a decades-long resurgence in populist rightwing patriotism was born amidst domestic strife over American purpose in Vietnam.
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- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War , pp. 428 - 449Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024