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American Public Opinion and the Withdrawal From Vietnam

Tyler Morgan

Introduction

In the years since the conclusion of the Vietnam War, that conflict has served as an example of 

how not to prosecute a war. Spanning over a decade and four administrations, the Vietnam conflict

and the involvement of the United States had become a divisive political issue both domestically and

around the world by the time it ended in 1975.

Anyone who watches politics in the United States knows that elected officials are

representative of and respond to the public in varying degrees. Especially in times of war, the majority

of the American public watches and attempts to influence the decision making processes at all levels of 

government. Since the elected officials in a democracy are tasked with representing the will of the

voting public, ideally they should combine the sentiments of the people with their own thoughts and

experience in order to make effective decisions. Through exploration of the events leading up to the

withdrawal of United States forces from Vietnam, I aim to take a deeper look at this decision making

process. In this paper, I will demonstrate the influence of public opinion in the United States over the

decision to exit the Vietnam conflict, looking specifically at the Nixon Administrations motives.

Literature Review

It is well known that President Nixon, like Johnson and others before him, had an intense

interest in public opinion both of himself and of the United States. It was Nixons belief that, in order

to preserve peace and stability in the international system, the United States must not appear weak as

we sought to exit the Vietnam conflict. However, discontent among the voters at home might not have

been the only issue for Nixon. The Vietnam War occurred in the context of the Cold War and

international factors, especially the Soviet Union, were also an important consideration in any

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decisions on Vietnam. At the center of the issue is the role of domestic vs. international factors in

decision making. How do they balance each other out? Which was more important in this conflict?

Scholars have disagreed on this question almost since the day Nixon and his cabinet implemented their

plan to withdraw U.S forces.

Over the course of the United States involvement in Vietnam, domestic support for the war

declined gradually. From 1965 to 1971, the Gallup Opinion Poll asked Americans if they believed our

involvement in Vietnam was a mistake; at the beginning of the conflict in 1965, 61% of those polled

supported the war, by 1971 that number had declined to 28%. By 1972, 62% of those polled supported

withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam. (Lunch 25) A multitude of factors played a role in these shifts

in public support for the war; most notably the perception that Vietnam was not our battle to fight. As

the war effort required more and more investment in terms of manpower and currency, Americans

began to realize they had gotten more than they bargained for. (citation and more material needed)

Encouraged by predictions of a Communist takeover of Southeast Asia, Presidents Kennedy and

Johnson made the decision to send U.S forces into South Vietnam on the basis of Domino Theory. That

theory stated that if one or more states in the region fell to Communism, others would quickly and

easily be brought into the Soviet orbit until the Communist bloc was in a position to challenge the

United States global hegemony. (Guan) Domino theory was logical at the beginning of the Vietnam

conflict, but in later years as more research was conducted it came to be regarded as unlikely. In a

memorandum to the President, the National Security Council stated in 1972 that Both the majority

and the dissenters reject the view that an unfavorable settlement in Vietnam will inevitably b followed

by Communist takeovers outside Indochina.(Kissinger Vietnam Study, HISTORIC DOCUMENTS 368)

Kennedy and Johnson were also well aware of domestic political considerations, fearing that an

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expansion of Communist power would make Democrats appear weakand lead to a takeover by

Republican conservatives.(Lawrence 68)

Topics : role of news media. Nixons view of dissent and opinion. Pre-withdrawal policies such as

Vietnamization and peace w/ honor, Nixons role and motives in advancing those. Congress role in

withdrawal.