policy - The Black Vault

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This writer singled out a paragraph in the August 10 piece
reporting the poll in the Washington Post which said, "The closing
of ranks behind the President in this latest military crisis
parallels national reaction during the Cuban missile crisis in
1962 and the landing of U.S. Marines in Lebanon in 1958 during the
Eisenhower administration. In both instances, overwhelming
majorities of the people registered immediate approval of
presidential action. It was equally true, however, that as each
crisis receded, national unity diminished and criticism again
appeared" (Harris Survey July 1971).
Walter Jenkins always noted any such comments carefully,
especially if they were caveats. His comment on the phone that
day was prophetic, "Well, I'm sure you are absolutely right, but
you know the boss. He won't forget this big show of support for a
long time to come." Not only did Lyndon Johnson use the Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution as legal justification for all his actions in
Vietnam, but he would recall the 85% support figure for years
afterward. Mistakenly, he thought that kind of lightning would
strike at his beckoning many a time in the years ahead.
24. Mueller, p. 69. It should be noted that U.S. forces engaged in active
ground combat for 7½ years in Vietnam and only for 3 years in Korea.
25. Alonzo L. Hamby, "Public Opinion: Korea and Vietnam", The Wilson
Quarterly, Summer 1978, pp. 137-141. Hamby believes that the
cultural differences were enormous. In the Korean war, protest was
from the political Right, aimed at the no-win policy. In Vietnam it
was the political Left that was outraged at alleged US moral depravity.
26. Elowitz and Spanier, pp. 512-521. These authors consider that both
Presidents Truman and Johnson decided nt to compete for another
term in office mainly because of public - •ntiment, as they perceived
it, against the ongoing war. Also, see Hamby, fn.p. 140.
27. Harris, p. 200.
28. Lawrence A. Mayer, "Young America: By the Numbers," Fortune, January
1969, p. 72.
29. Mueller, p. 139 and p. 275 (Table A-l). It would be inaccurate to
assert that young people were "hawks" concerning the war; they did
not exhibit a degree or intensity of support that would separate them
from the rest of the population.
30. Ibid. and Daniel Seligman, "A Special Kind of Rebellion," Fortune,
January 1969, p. 66.
31. Nathan Glazer, "The Jewish Role in Student Activism," Fortune,
January 1969, p. 112. Glazer suggests tha-: !sociologist Seymour
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