The Vietnam War was the first major conflict after the civil rights movement in the United States. It is well known that US involvement in Vietnam created much controversy: in the surveys that measured public opinion on US participation in this war, an important shift in public opinion happened at the end of 1967; nearly half of Americans responding to a Gallup poll at the end of 1967 said the war had been a mistake (46 to 44 percent).
Courtesy of New York Times
At the University of Michigan, the first American Vietnam “Teach-In” took place in March 1965.
Agitation was prevalent within the United Auto Workers because of opposing opinions on the war. Walter Reuther, president of the UAW (1946-1970), supported Lyndon Johnson’s policies even though it is well-known that he had personal doubts about US involvement in the war – this is because the support of the president was crucial for legislation singled out by the union. As a result, the UAW came to be seen as opposed to liberal ideals and associated with Cold War belligerence. Several UAW leaders strongly opposed Reuther’s “official” endorsement of Johnson, but Reuther did not publicly express his opposition to the war until President Johnson announced he would not run again for president in 1968. The automobile worker unions were opposed to the war by 1970, as other sectors of the working class. Many UAW members served in Vietnam: even so, auto workers tended to disagree with the US involvement in the conflict more than the rest of the population. Somewhat surprisingly, during the 1960s, defense sales represented only 2 or 3 percent of the total sales of the Big Three and even the conflict in South Vietnam did not contribute to a noticeable rise in those numbers.
Negro In Vietnam Time Magazine 1967
RESEARCH & WRITING
Louise-Helene Filion, Ph.D.
PHOTO RESEARCH
Rebecca Phoenix
SOURCES
DUMBRELL, John. Rethinking the Vietnam War. New York, Palgrave MacMillan, 2012, p. 91-92.
CLARK, Daniel. "Autoworkers and their Unions.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History, https://oxfordre.com/americanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-546 . Accessed 3 September 2022.
DUMBRELL, John. Rethinking the Vietnam War. New York, Palgrave MacMillan, 2012, p. 91-92.
CLARK, Daniel. "Autoworkers and their Unions.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History, https://oxfordre.com/americanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-546 . Accessed 3 September 2022.
WHITE, Lawrence J. The Automobile Industry since 1945, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1971, p. 88.