The Hawks and Doves Conflict
During the Vietnam War, the views of people in America were divided into two main groups. One group was known as the Hawks and the other was known as the Doves. These terms were not new, but came into widespread use during the Vietnam War. The association of Doves with peace is rooted in biblical history regarding the Great Flood. The term "War hawk" was used as early as 1798 to describe Federalists who wanted to declare war on France and Great Britain.
Things that the Hawks Stated
· We should lend support by land or air to the South Vietnamese Army · We should bomb important economic and military targets · We should destroy the Ho Chi Minh Trail · We should train and supply the South Vietnamese Army |
Things the Doves Stated
· Ho Chi Minh should be recognized as the immediate leader of all of Vietnam · The people of Vietnam should have the right to choose their own government · Our military strategy was doomed from the start · The leaders of our country made a terrible mistake supporting the election of a violent and corrupt leader of South Vietnam |
Summary
The Hawks and Doves conflict was a reaction by the people of America to government policy regarding the Vietnam War and the fact that too many Americans were dying in the war. The Hawks thought that the war should continue on course while the Doves believed that the U.S. government should take many of the soldiers out of Vietnam or stop the war altogether. There was also another group in this conflict known as the Owls, who did not play a very large roll in the reaction because they were the people who were still undecided as to which side was right. The Dove movement started in 1950, when Harry Truman was President, but it was not until about 1965 that the Dove movement gathered enough support to be a big influence in American politics. By 1967, only about twenty-five percent of the American citizen’s were considered Hawks. The leader of the Hawks at the time was arguably President Johnson who was creating the plans for the war. At the end of 1967, Dove protestors marched on the Pentagon and the White House in an effort to get President Johnson to step down or stop the war, but President Johnson did not react. The Doves continued to protest around the country and became increasingly angry. President Nixon, a known Hawk, succeeded President Johnson. President Nixon won the election in part, by committing to turn the war over to the South Vietnamese Army and bring U.S. troops home. In an effort to try to win the war, Nixon decided to invade Cambodia. The expansion of conflict greatly angered the Doves to a point where massive demonstrations were organized all over the country and students at universities all over the nation began to act out and decide to boycott attending classes. In order to appease the Doves, Congress revoked the ability to send troops to Vietnam and subsequently, Nixon decided to pull fifty thousand troops out of Vietnam. Right as the Hawks began to calm down, President Nixon was forced to resign because of the Watergate Scandal. After Nixon resigned, Gerald Ford became the President, and although he wanted to increase the military activity in Vietnam, Congress would not allow him to. This decision was not only for the sake of the nation, but for the sake of our soldiers.