Brian M Downing
Mark Twain noted that events rhymed, but not all recurrences are as pleasing as poetic couplets. Many are poorly constructed, graceless, violent, and tragic.
The Vietnam War did grave damage to American beliefs and institutions. Population pressures, police blunders, a polarizing president, and ossified political parties have worsened that damage. Recent turmoil is the resurfacing of troubles from fifty years ago, albeit in more jarring and ominous forms.
Victory and defeat
Confidence in American beliefs and institutions was high in 1965. It was not long after the victory of World War Two when state, society, and industry combined to defeat Imperial Japan and the Third Reich. Authority figures from the president and military officers to teachers and cops on the street were infused with great trust and respect.
Vietnam undermined that. The war dragged on, casualties mounted. By every statistical measure, officials insisted, we were winning but by late 1967 more people opposed the war than supported it. The opposition became more militant, authority was on the back foot, the nation was polarized. One side said love America or leave it, the other shouted the government was deeply flawed and had to be reformed, or even brought down.
Anger over the war intermingled with passions based on civil rights, assassinations, the environment, and feminism. Demonstrations became riots. Hard hats brawled with protesters. Police crackdowns led to bloodshed and criticism, as did national guard blunders. Crime and incivility soared. A spate of terrorist bombings took place.
The deaths, money, prestige, and turmoil ended with revelations of lies from the outset and a humiliating defeat. Authority figures from the president on down suffered and they’ve never recovered. The mythic aura around America is fainter and for large portions of the public it’s gone.
Turmoil and fragmentation
During World War Two an image arose of a unified nation as men and women, blacks and whites and all ethnic groups, were involved in a common cause. It was an idealized part of newsreels and films, though neither was false or entirely misleading. The melting pot works best with the heat of war, at least a just victorious one.
The justness of the Vietnam War can perhaps be disputed. Its failure and divisive effects cannot. The war began at the outset of civil rights efforts and led to militancy and rioting. It was claimed (incorrectly) that blacks suffered disproportionate casualties and that the war in origins and conduct was racist.
Native Americans too became militant, occupying Alcatraz, Wounded Knee, and other places. Feminism became more popular and insistent, driven by women in the antiwar movement who were marginalized by male leaders.
Myths
Turmoil and defeat gave rise to widely and deeply held beliefs about the war, especially in more traditional parts of the public. The White House maintained that the war was supported by a “silent majority”. The term was part of official pronouncements and day-to-day conversation. The majority eluded polling outfits.
The media had been highly supportive of previous wars but a narrative emerged that a biased, liberal media misrepresented the war. This encouraged antiwar sentiment and eroded support for the war, especially after the 1968 Tet Offensive. The narrative spread and became accepted knowledge. It also became a template that has shaped news reporting in the present.
Belief in a biased media and silent majority invited the view that antiwar groups and politicians bear responsibility for the disaster. The war could have been won, victory had been stolen.
A paramilitary culture arose. It was driven by widespread disrespect for veterans, resentment over defeat, and belief that POWs were languishing in jungle prisons. Politicians saw the sentiments and integrated them into speeches and rallying cries. Groups formed in most states based on war culture and belligerent opposition.
The country had seen deep troubles amid the War of 1812 and of course in the lead up to the Civil War, but each period was followed by eras of good feeling and relative comity. That is unlikely today. America has been diverging into two camps since the Jazz age and Beat Generation and the 60s.
Recent events made the divergence wider and probably unbridgeable. The country’s viability as presently constituted is uncertain.
© 2021 Brian M Downing
Brian M Downing is a national security analyst who’s written for outlets across the political spectrum. He studied at Georgetown University and the University of Chicago, and did post-graduate work at Harvard’s Center for International Affairs. Thanks as ever to Susan Ganosellis.