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

had a history of civil disobedience; and no one had dared attack the Pentagon this waybefore.In addition to the threats of civil disobedience, authorities were also dealing withan increasingly frustrated anti-war movement. At the beginning of the year, PresidentJohnson was listed first in a poll of “most admired man,” ahead of former Presidents andreligious leaders (Gallup 2043). 32 In February, 67% of those polled supported thebombing of North Vietnam (Gallup 2052). But with rising draft quotas in the UnitedStates, continued bombing in Vietnam, and an escalating casualty count, the tide ofpublic opinion turned against the war, and against President Johnson in particular. InAugust, with over 12,000 troops already killed, the President pledged 50,000 more tobring the total in Vietnam up over 500,000. By then the war was costing over $2 billion amonth (Apple 1). About one third of all troops fighting were draftees (David Farber, Age148). Soon 46% of those polled thought the war was a “mistake” (Gitlin, Sixties 293). ByOctober, only 21% of respondents thought that a Democratic President would be the bestleader to end the war, while 31% favored a Republican President (Gallup 2085). Even asJohnson’s poll numbers dropped, returning troops started speaking out in favor of theanti-war movement with the help of groups like Vietnam Veterans Against the War.There were plenty of Americans who objected to the nation’s participation in the war,and they were angry that the conflict continued.Because authorities in Washington were nervous, they made extensivepreparations to combat the expected civil disobedience that a Rubin-organized32 Johnson was the most admired man, followed by former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, SenatorRobert Kennedy, Billy Graham, and Pope Paul VI.57