The Vietnam war was a time with much controversy in the U.S. In the chapter Hardhats vs elite doves, a historian named Penny Lewis argues that the divide between “elite doves”(a stereotype of the antiwar activists who were often portrayed as highly educated, middle-to-upper class, and urban.) and “reactionary hardhats” refers to working-class Americans, particularly male industrial workers, who supported the Vietnam War.) Was a fictional plot for politicians to exploit to boost their campaign and image. Studies showed that it was primarily non-working class men who supported the efforts of the war. Two politicians that are highlighted in this are George Wallace and Richard Nixon. President Richard Nixon used the situation to manipulate the public, he did this by infusing the idea that the anti-war supporters were a minority group that was out of touch with what was happening and less educated. He used his political presence to suppress a group of Americans expressing their attitudes of the war, and made the war supporters seem as a more important group, filled with educated middle and upper class citizens. George Wallace, Alabama's governor, created the idea of a silent majority, claiming that there were more war supporters than anti-war supporters. Wallace claims the silent majority was opposed to the “disruptive anti-war protests. According to Lewis, the source of antagonism for white working-class Americans was rooted in the economic and cultural shifts. Deindustrialization, economic stability and increasing competition for jobs caused resentment from the working class. This is because the anti-war movement was attributed to the hippie movement and was believed they were so out of touch with the society, that they didn't understand the struggles of the working class. The decision to retaliate would for all intents and purposes mark the beginning of the American war in Vietnam—a conflict that would last eight more years, take the lives of 58,000 Americans and millions more Vietnamese. At home it would create a permanent rift within the Democratic Party. This being said, the democratic party could have prevented the realignment of political views. If they would have listened to the group of supporters that was against the war, it would not have caused a shift in people's allegiance to a certain political party.
Will Wright 