The Lost Years: The American Peace Movement, From Vietnam to Nuclear Freeze

Abstract

This article resurrects the lost years of the American peace movement in the wake of the Vietnam War. It follows the efforts of activists to launch a peace conversion campaign as the answer to American militarism, for which the Vietnam War was only a symptom. Through analysis of various archival holdings, this study demonstrates the historical significance of grassroots peace activism over the course of the 1970s—a period largely viewed through the lens of conservative ascendancy. These campaigns successfully pushed back against major weapons systems such as the B‐1 bomber and the MX missile, while further making the question of war and peace central to American politics by the 1980 presidential election.