policy - The Black Vault

THE BDM CORPORATION
labor opinion in the course of the war
should correlate with that of
individuals who had lower educational levels. Figure 1-4 indicates the
differences in support for the war that could be traced by educational
subgroups.
The figure suggests that the lower the educational level of
those polled, the less likely they were to support the war.
The figure
also suggests that educational levels may have been a factor in the extent
of support for the war at any given time, but that the trend in 1965 toward
increasing support for the war policies was reflected in all three subgroups.
Similarly, the decline in support for the war which followed was
evident *in all three groups with the better educated members of society
changing their opinion most dramatically. The less educated seem to have
changed their opinion least. These data indicate that there was no strong
reserve of support for the war among US
group apart from the general population.
laborers that marked them as a
These conclusions drawn from examinations of less educated
members of society used as a surrogate for laboring class individuals are
consistent with surveys which were conducted occasionally of US labor
attitudes toward the war. Thus, on January 3, 1968 Gallup poll report
indicated that almost one half of the rank and file of organized labor felt
that the war was wrong. 38/ That level of opposition to the war is
extremely close to the oppositior, indicated in the general population (See
Figure 1-2) in early 1968. These data lead to the conclusion that the
large mass of American laborers seem to have held op, ions that were
consistent with the attitudes of the general population. 39/
E. ANALYTICAL SUMMARY - INSIGHTS
The data available from opinion polls taken in the 1960's and 1970's
indicate that public support for the Vietnam War crested late in 1965.
Thereafter, in notably gradual steps, the support ebbed, and the tide of
opposition rose. By mid-1966 it was evident that the application of
American military power would not produce a quick end to the war.
hopes that US airpower would cripple North Vietnam or break the will of its
The
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