Helping them along: Astroturf, public opinion, and Nixon's Vietnam War
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Published version
Date
2015-11
Authors
Thelen, Sarah J.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Univerity of Nottingham; University of Birmingham
Published Version
Abstract
With the successful mobilisation of the Silent Majority in November 1969, President Richard Nixon and his aides embarked on an ambitious attempt to reshape domestic public opinion on the Vietnam War. Utilising internal White House documents, this article explores the way in which these projects combined grassroots activism and Administration-coordinated astroturf campaigns to rally supporters. The successful creation of Americans for Winning the Peace marked the apex of these efforts, but this article demonstrates that unexpected costs let to the quick return to less elaborate, but still carefully coordinated, appeals to special interest groups by 1971.
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Keywords
Vietnam War , Public opinion , Silent majority , American politics , Nixon's presidency , Richard Nixon
Citation
Thelen, S. J. (2015) 'Helping them Along: Astroturf, Public Opinion, and Nixon's Vietnam War'. 49th Parallel, 37 pp.14-33,