antiwar movement

Daniel Ellsberg's Moral Courage Was Unsparing, Even of Himself

by Erik Baker

Turning against Vietnam wasn't Daniel Ellsberg's great moral achievement. That was his realization that he had to choose between moral conviction and maintaining his place in the ranks of elite decisionmakers. 

"Salts" are Part of Labor's Fight to Organize. They were once Part of the Antiwar Movement

by Derek Seidman

Taking a job with the covert intention of organizing the workplace is a time-honored labor tactic that's back in the news. Some dedicated activists in the 1960s "salted" the U.S. military in the hopes of building an antiwar movement within the ranks. 

The Documents Daniel Ellsberg Didn't Leak

While famous for leaking the Pentagon Papers in 1971, the researcher and activist has revealed that he had another stash of secret papers—about American nuclear war planning—that he felt a duty to publicize. He never did release them, but is committed in his last days to work against nuclear war. 

An American Witness to the European Movement Against the Iraq Invasion

by Brian Sandberg

The European Social Forum, held in Florence in November 2002, didn't stop the US invasion of Iraq. But it did usher in an era of pan-european civic action that remains powerful today. 

Don Luce, Activist Against Vietnam War, Dies at 88

Luce helped expose the torture and human rights abuses carried out by the government of South Vietnam, and campaigned against the war after being expelled from South Vietnam as an aid worker. 

Farewell, Brother Staughton

by Carl Mirra

Staughton Lynd was always in the trenches fighting for a better world, and for that he remains a “admirable radical” and, for that matter, a beautiful person.

Screaming Past Each Other at Christmas: Debating the End of the Vietnam War

by Ryan Reft

In December 1972 the United States launched a massive bombing campaign, notionally to force the North back to the bargaining table and secure an "honorable" peace. The fierce debate between Anthony Lewis and Robert Conquest over the merits of that reasoning would resonate for years. 

Seeing the Future When No One Believes You

by Rebecca Gordon

The recollections and rehabilitations occasioned by the 20th anniversary of the War on Terror are, predictably, giving short shrift to the voices of dissent who questioned the ability of American military power to resolve political conflicts. Like their mythical namesake, those denounced as Cassandras in 2001 were right. 

The Night Vietnam Veterans Stormed Bunker Hill

by Elise Lemire

The Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775 was a military defeat for the Continental Army but a coup for morale. In 1971, Vietnam Veterans Against the War won a nonviolent battle at the site for the allegiance of the working class residents of Charlestown. 

Vietnam Veterans Transformed Memorial Day Weekend into a Holiday about Peace

by Elise Lemire

"By the time the law went into effect on Jan. 1, 1971, many returning service members decided to reject not only the commercialization of Memorial Day, but also the holiday’s traditional premise that it was noble to die fighting a war."

The Girl in the Kent State Photo

by Patricia McCormick

Mary Ann Vecchio's life was forever changed by being pictured in the famous photograph with Kent State shooting victim Jeffrey Miller; she became a lightning rod for a nation's anger at age 14. 

Marshall D. Sahlins, Groundbreaking Anthropologist, Dies at 90

Marshal Sahlins was an innovator in the practice of campus "teach-ins," developed as a way for he and colleagues to protest the war in Vietnam without disengaging from contact with their students. 

‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ is the Film to Help Us Understand 2021. Here’s Why

by John Beckman and Theo Zenou

Abbie Hoffman used his conspiracy trial as a guerrila theater stage, the peak of his career as an activist who used absurdity and wit to expose the hypocrisies of American society. 

Rennie Davis, ‘Chicago Seven’ Antiwar Activist, Dies at 80

Mr. Davis was most famous as an organizer of the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago which led to his trial for conspiracy and inciting riot. 

Alan Canfora, Who Carried Wounds From Kent State, Dies at 71

After being wounded by National Guard fire at Kent State, Canfora worked tirelessly to ensure that the violence would not be erased from the university's or the nation's history.

The Real Abbie Hoffman

by Nathan J. Robinson

While The Trial of the Chicago 7 is sympathetic to Hoffman, it also softens him in a way that ultimately amounts to historical fabrication.

Aaron Sorkin Sanitizes the Chicago 7

by Jeet Heer

According to Jeet Heer, "Sorkin takes many liberties with the facts, most of which are designed to make both the New Left and its conservative opponents more palatable to contemporary liberal viewers."

After Chicago 7 Trial, Mrs. Jean Fritz Helped Change the Course of History

A look back at the Chicago 7 conspiracy trial through the eyes of one of the jurors reveals an America that was less completely polarized than one might think. 

Nixon Did Call the Military on Protesters. He Just Covered It Up.

by Lawrence Roberts

The antiwar movement had already helped turn public opinion against Mr. Nixon’s conduct of the war. He was determined to deny activists a victory that could cause further political damage.

On the 50th Anniversary, America’s Still not Fully Recovered from the Wounds of Kent State

by Will Bunch

Historian Thomas Grace argued that, contrary to the perception of student protesters as Ivy League elites, movements at Kent State built on family histories of labor unionism and the perception that working class kids' path to a better life was being short-circuited by the war in Vietnam.