policy - The Black Vault

THE BDM CORPORATION
term.43/ That announcement sparked a momentary joy in the antiwar movement
which had seemed so ineffective. One writer declared:
Surely a major reason for Johnson's decision was a
belated but strong response to growing public pressure
and disenchantment. The complaints one heard about
American campuses that dissidents aren't listened to,
and have no choice but "alienation" or exile or urban
guerrilla tactics, seem now to be utterly wrong or, at
the very least wildly premature.44/
This exultation was shortlived as the politics of 1968 unfolded and Richard
Nixon triumphed.
By 1968, the antiwar movement represented a small, splintered constituency
that was rapidly exhausting itself through a political momentum
that was progressively isolating itself from the country.
Johnson was a
consummate politician, skilled at assessing the power of political forces
and balancing them against each other.
was only one element behind Johnson's decision.
Unquestionably the antiwar movement
Chapter 5 will examine
other elements in the equation, including Eugene McCarthy's strong showing
in the New Hcmpshire primary,
Robert Kennedy's entrance into the presidential
race, mounting economic problems,
consensus, and the personal pressures exerted by LBJ's wife.
the shattering of the liberal
President Johnson's successor was attuned to the challenge and opportunity
that the pressure of US social issues *presented to him. Nixon
attempted to establish a new Republican majority out of the ruins of the
old Democratic coalitions.
E. THE MILITARY IN AMERICAN SOCIETY
The traditional relationship between the military and American society
was shaped by geopolitical and historical factors. However, World War II
wrought decisive change-
in the fcreign policy objectives and the military
capabilities of the major world powers including the United States; these
changes had a profound effect on the position of the military in American
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