Making Room for Liberals in the Antiwar Movement: The Americans for Democratic Action and the Dilemma of Liberal Opposition to the Vietnam War

Abstract

The opposition of American liberals to the Vietnam War has often been seen as suspect by historians who compare their actions and positions unfavorably with the passionate dissent of the New Left and its straightforward call for the unilateral withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Southeast Asia. This article argues that when it is evaluated on its own merits, the antiwar activism of prominent liberals from the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) does not represent a less “pure” version of the dissent mounted by the New Left, but a dedicated, if less than effective, opposition to U.S. military intervention in a distant civil war. By making room for liberals—both within and outside of the ADA—in the antiwar movement, we gain a more complete picture of both postwar liberalism and the complex dynamics of the largest antiwar movement in American history.