Shawyer dissertation May 2008 final version - The University of ...

writing to President Johnson from Vietnam, also agrees that the demonstrators at thePentagon are an ignorant fringe element. Akers writes, “I cant see how any one canprotest something when they don’t know what is really happening [sic].”The letters in the Johnson Library archives therefore demonstrate that thePentagon March and exorcism performance had limited efficacy. The media did report onthe exorcism performance, as the future Yippies had hoped. They did reach a wideaudience of Americans. But convincing this audience of their viewpoint was anothermatter entirely. From Members of Congress like O’Neal, to professionals like Jarrette,housewives like Mrs. Hayden, or military personnel like Akers, a wide swath of theAmerican public did not support Rubin’s theatrical anti-war effort of blockading thePentagon. Responding to Paul J. Bleiler of California, the President’s assistant WhitneyShoemaker soothes the anger of the anti-demonstrator faction with the reminder that “thevast majority of your fellow Americans feels as you do and solidly supports our men andour purposes in Viet-Nam[sic].”Thus the Johnson Library archives reveal frustration with and disdain for thePentagon protesters from the majority of Americans who supported the war. But perhapssurprisingly, it also displays a tolerant acceptance of the demonstrations by the WhiteHouse. Shoemaker patiently responds to the angry letters against the demonstrators withgentle reminders that dissent is a right in a democratic society. 41 “We can never expectunanimity in a democratic society,” he admonishes Seaman Burck C. Saxton. To RobertJohnson of Tuscon, Shoemaker notes that “responsible dissent is always welcome in a41 Shoemaker’s responses are typed form letters.95