Position and Opposition: Mike Mansfield, J. William Fulbright, and Opposition to Vietnam

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2021-05

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The Ohio State University

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Abstract

This paper addresses the methods of, and reasons for, Mike Mansfield and J. William Fulbright's opposition to the Vietnam War. Contemporary historiography of Vietnam focuses on biographies of Vietnam Era figures or executive narratives. This paper explores the relationships and factors that led Mansfield and Fulbright to protest the war through opposite tactics. Mansfield privately advised Johnson; Fulbright went to the American public. I hope to show using speeches, private memoranda, and published works that the reasons for their chosen method of opposition were the result of their position in government, the Democratic Party, personal relationships with the president, and variable allegiances to the Democratic Party's domestic policy agenda.

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Vietnam, Mansfield, Fulbright, Opposition

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