A SHORT HISTORY OF RIGHT WING DESTRUCTION PART 20

As the Vietnam war escalated, so did the dissension here at home.  There was increasing resistance to the military draft and protests against the war.  The protests occurred both because young men were being sent to Vietnam for questionable reasons and because of the death and destruction rained on the Vietnamese people.

It was a good time for the military-industrial complex.  It meant big profits in providing war material.  We got introduced to new products, or at least previously little known products, such as Agent Orange and napalm. One of the most noted and searing photos of the Vietnam war shows a young girl whose clothes have been burned away by napalm.  She is running down the road in terror.

Vietnam was going to be the premier issue in the 1968 presidential campaign.  The political establishment thought that President Johnson would seek reelection.  Senator Eugene McCarthy mounted a campaign that was largely in opposition to the war and did surprisingly well in the New Hampshire primary.

After Robert Kennedy left the Attorney General's office, he won election as Senator from New York.  He was under enormous pressure to run for president in 1968, but resisted because a campaign would be incredibly divisive for the Democratic party.  But President Johnson changed the equation when he announced he would not seek reelection.

More to come