Antiwarriors essays

Antiwarriors essays Antiwarriors: The Vietnam War And The Battle For America's Hearts And Minds. By Melvin Small. (Wilmington, DE, Scholarly Resources Inc, 2002. pp. 163). The antiwar movement during the Vietnam Conflict was the most effective and long lasting of all the antiwar movements in American history. Up to that point, no other war has generated as much anarchy as much as Johnson's and Nixon's decisions to battle in Vietnam did. "Although never able to create enough pressure on decision makers to end U.S. involvement in the war, it served as a major constraint on their abilities to escalate...In many ways, the movement's greatest importance was its legacy." (1) There are still many unanswered questions revolving around this movement and its lasting effects though. How did it get to be as effective as it did? What were its lasting effects that can still be felt today? Who did the movement actually benefit at the time? All of these questions have two sides to them and may not be able to be answered from both sides at this point in history, but Melvin Small's "Antiwarriors" attempts to answer these questions. "Antiwarriors" is divided into nine chapters. Chapter one describes the origins of the people involved in the movement as well as the general reasons for different groups getting involved. The second chapter outlines the Americanization of the war and where, when, and to what extent the movement began and the exact reason why. The next two chapters chronicle the rise of the movement in relation to the escalating battles and deaths involving Americans overseas in what seems to be a war America need not be involved in. Chapters five and six both illustrate the ways the movement tried to pressure the presidents directly, with the main difference in those chapters being chapter five was involving President Johnson while chapter six involved President Nixon. Chapters seven and eight experienced and decline in battles with the Communis...