Was there a Cold War consensus in the US on the eve of the Vietnam War?

Cold War - Opposition and Support for the Vietnam War, 1954-75

In this course, Professor Kendrick Oliver (University of Southampton) explores opposition and support for the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. In the first module, we consider whether there was a Cold War consensus in the US on the eve of the Vietnam War. In the second module, we turn to look at the origins of the Vietnam anti-war movement, before in the third module considering how effective the Vietnam anti-war movement was. In the fourth module, we look at why public support for the Vietnam War declined. In the fifth module, we turn our attention to the pro-war movement, before in the sixth module looking at the silent majority, and the end of the Vietnam War.

Was there a Cold War consensus in the US on the eve of the Vietnam War?

In this module, we consider whether there was a Cold War consensus in the United States on the eve of the Vietnam War, focusing in particular on: (i) the historical debate surrounding whether such a consensus existed; (ii) where did different groups lie on the debate of whether the US should join the Vietnam war?; (iii) the beginning of an American foreign war establishment; (iv) repression and exclusion surrounding the Cold War consensus; and (v) the term ‘Silent Generation’, and how it has been used to refer to the post-war generation in the United States.