Dissenting voices : the early critics of America's escalation of the Vietnam War

The central thesis of this paper is that despite their varied backgrounds these early critics of the war all shared interests and experience in foreign affairs. Some of the critics were outside of the Administration, especially Senators Ernest Gruening, Wayne Morse, Frank Church, George McGovern and the influential newspaper columnist Walter Lippmann. Other's had close ties to the Johnson White House Adlai Stevenson, George Ball, Mike Mansfield and Clark Clifford. All of these people were liberals and many had been associated with Adlai Stevenson or Lyndon Johnson. All were people of integrity who were not afraid to speak their consciences. Some were able to go public with their doubts while others kept their concerns private, voicing their doubts only in the highest levels of government.

Digitization of this thesis was made possible by a generous grant from the Jefferson Trust, 2015.