James Miller

When Lyndon Johnson committed thousands of combat troops to fight in Vietnam in 1964, he created opposition of extraordinary proportions. Never before in American history had so many people vehemently opposed a war waged by the United States. For this reason, organized leftist groups fought among themselves as to the best tactics to use for protest. All were fearful of being labeled "Communist sympathizers" because such an affiliation carried very real consequences at the time—members of such groups faced the loss of jobs and careers and increasing hostility from the general public. Nonetheless, the antiwar movement grew rapidly, led by "New Left" groups such as the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), a campus organization that had previously protested against the plight of blacks in the South and now began to speak out against...