List of congressional opponents of the Vietnam War

This is a list of U.S. senators and representatives who opposed the Vietnam War. This includes those who initially supported the war, but later changed their stance to a strong opposition to it.

Senate

Senator		Party (at opposition)		State	Term (at opposition)		Ref.
					Start	End
	Frank Church		Democratic	Idaho	3 January 1957	3 January 1981	[1]
	John Sherman Cooper		Republican	Kentucky	7 November 1956	3 January 1973	[2]
	J. William Fulbright		Democratic	Arkansas	3 January 1945	31 December 1974	[3]
	Albert Gore Sr.		Democratic	Tennessee	3 January 1953	3 January 1971	[4]
	Mike Gravel		Democratic	Alaska	3 January 1969	3 January 1981	[5]
	Ernest Gruening		Democratic	Alaska	3 January 1959	3 January 1969	[6]
	Vance Hartke		Democratic	Indiana	3 January 1959	3 January 1977	[7]
	Mark Hatfield		Republican	Oregon	3 January 1967	3 January 1997	[8]
	Jacob Javits		Republican	New York	3 January 1957	3 January 1981	[9]
	Robert F. Kennedy		Democratic	New York	3 January 1965	6 June 1968	[10]
	Mike Mansfield		Democratic	Montana	3 January 1953	3 January 1977	[11]
	Charles Mathias		Republican	Maryland	3 January 1969	3 January 1987	[12]
	Eugene McCarthy		Democratic-Farmer-Labor	Minnesota	3 January 1959	3 January 1971	[13]
	George McGovern		Democratic	South Dakota	3 January 1963	3 January 1981	[14]
	Wayne Morse		Democratic	Oregon	3 January 1945	3 January 1969	[15]
	William Proxmire		Democratic	Wisconsin	28 August 1957	3 January 1989	[16]

House of Representatives

Representative		Party (at opposition)		District	Term (at opposition)		Ref.
					Start	End
	Bella Abzug		Democratic	NY-19	3 January 1971	3 January 1973	[17]
				NY-20	3 January 1973	3 January 1977
	Les Aspin		Democratic	WI-01	3 January 1971	20 January 1993	[18]
	George Brown Jr.		Democratic	CA-29	3 January 1963	3 January 1971	[19]
	Phillip Burton		Democratic	CA-05	18 February 1964	3 January 1975	[20]
	Ron Dellums		Democratic	CA-07	3 January 1971	3 January 1975	[21]
	Robert Drinan		Democratic	MA-03	3 January 1971	3 January 1973	[22]
				MA-04	3 January 1973	3 January 1981
	Ed Koch		Democratic	NY-17	3 January 1969	31 December 1973	[23]
				NY-18	3 January 1973	31 December 1977
	Paul Findley		Republican	IL-20	3 January 1963	3 January 1973	[24]
	Harold R. Gross		Republican	IA-03	3 January 1963	3 January 1975	[25]
	Allard K. Lowenstein		Democratic	NY-05	3 January 1969	3 January 1971	[26]
	Pete McCloskey		Republican	CA-11	12 December 1967	3 January 1973	[27]
	Patsy Mink		Democratic	Hawaii	3 January 1965	3 January 1977	[28]
	Tip O'Neill		Democratic	MA-08	3 January 1963	3 January 1987	[29]
	Henry S. Reuss		Democratic	WI-05	3 January 1955	3 January 1983	[30]
	Donald Riegle		Republican	MI-07	3 March 1967	30 December 1976	[31]
	James H. Scheuer		Democratic	NY-21	3 January 1965	3 January 1973	[32]
	Eugene Siler		Republican	KY-05	3 January 1963	3 January 1965	[33]
	Pete Stark		Democratic	CA-08	3 January 1973	3 January 1975	[34]
	Andrew Young		Democratic	GA-05	3 January 1973	29 January 1977	[35]

See also

• Opposition to the Vietnam War

References

1. Schmitz, David F. (2003). "Congress Must Draw the Line: Senator Frank Church and Opposition to the Vietnam War and the Imperial Presidency". In Woods, Randall Bennett (ed.). Vietnam and the American political tradition. Cambridge University Press. pp. 121–148. ISBN   0-521-01000-4.
2. Albin Krebs (February 23, 1991). "John Sherman Cooper Dies at 89; Long-time Senator From Kentucky". New York Times .
3. "J. William Fulbright". Encyclopædia Britannica . 2009. Retrieved April 17, 2009.
4. Melinda Henneberger (May 22, 2000). "A Political Father Who Chose the High Road and Unpopular Stands". The New York Times.
5. Myrna Oliver (July 29, 2003). "Vance Hartke, 84; Indiana Senator Opposed Johnson on Vietnam". Los Angeles Times.
6. Johnson, Robert D. (2003). "The Progressive Dissent: Ernest Gruening and Vietnam". Vietnam and the American Political Tradition. pp. 58–81. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511615375.004. ISBN   9780521811484 . Retrieved May 22, 2022.
7. Myrna Oliver (July 29, 2003). "Vance Hartke, 84; Indiana Senator Opposed Johnson on Vietnam". Los Angeles Times.
8. "The Viet Nam Race". Time Magazine. October 14, 1966. Archived from the original on February 20, 2008.
9. Mann, Robert (2002). A Grand Delusion: America's Descent into Vietnam. Basic Books. p. 554. ISBN   0-465-04370-4 . Retrieved April 19, 2009.
10. Thurston Clarke (June 2008). "The Last Good Campaign". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on December 20, 2014.
11. Matusow, Allen (1984). "The Vietnam War, the Liberals, and the Overthrow of LBJ" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 16, 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
12. "Back in Time: At War with War". CNN. Archived from the original on June 15, 2009. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
13. Francis X. Clines (December 11, 2005). "Eugene J. McCarthy, Senate Dove Who Jolted '68 Race, Dies at 89". New York Times .
14. "The Plight of The Doves". Time Magazine. September 14, 1970. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007.
15. "FBI Investigated Wayne Morse Over Vietnam War Opposition; Johnson Allegedly Ordered Probe of Senator". The Washington Post. July 17, 1988. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012.
16. Richard Severo (December 16, 2005). "William Proxmire, Maverick Democratic Senator From Wisconsin, Is Dead at 90". New York Times .
17. Laura Mansnerus (April 1, 1998). "Bella Abzug, 77, Congresswoman And a Founding Feminist, Is Dead". New York Times .
18. "Les Aspin January 21, 1993 - February 3, 1994 18th Secretary of Defense Clinton Administration". U.S. Department of Defense.
19. Stephen Green (July 17, 1999). "Liberal Representative George Brown Jr. Dies". Daily News.
20. "13 Demos Press to End War". The Deseret News. May 25, 1971.
21. "Ronald V. Dellums; Representative, 1971–1998, Democrat from California". Black Americans in Congress, 1870–2007. Office of History and Preservation, Office of the Clerk, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 2008. Archived from the original on March 8, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2009.
22. "Friends and Students Remember Jesuit Pioneer". Georgetown University. February 5, 2007. Archived from the original on March 10, 2011. Retrieved April 17, 2009.
23. "Ed Koch's Legacy". Gotham Gazette. November 14, 2005. Archived from the original on April 27, 2007. Retrieved April 19, 2009.
24. Seelye, Katharine Q. (August 14, 2019). "Paul Findley, 11-Term Congressman Behind the War Powers Act, Dies at 98" . The New York Times. p. B12. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
25. Bill Kauffman, "The Eternal Flamethrower," The American Enterprise, 1999-11.
26. Olson, James Stuart (1999). Historical dictionary of the 1960s. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 281–282. ISBN   0-313-29271-X . Retrieved April 19, 2009.
27. "White knight in a battle-bus". The Economist. June 1, 2006.
28. "Patsy T. Mink". Women in Congress. Office of the Clerk, U.S. Capitol, Room H154 - Washington, DC. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
29. Martin Tolchin (January 7, 1994). "Thomas P. O'Neill Jr., a Democratic Power in the House for Decades, Dies at 81". New York Times .
30. Graeme Zielinski (January 15, 2002). "Longtime Rep. Henry Reuss Dies; Wis. Democrat a Banking Expert". The Washington Post. Archived from the original (fee required) on October 20, 2012. He also was a foe of the Communist-baiting Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy (R-Wis.); an early supporter of civil rights, conservation and congressional reform legislation; and a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War.
31. "Strong Criticism Comes in Reaction to Bombing". The Virgin Islands Daily News. December 22, 1972.
32. Morgan, Joseph G. (1997). The Vietnam Lobby. UNC Press. p. 110. ISBN   0-8078-2322-8 . Retrieved April 19, 2009.
33. Beito, David T; Beito, Linda Royster (August 21, 2006). "The Christian Conservative Who Opposed the Vietnam War". History News Network.
34. Carl Hulse (February 9, 2003). "Threats and Responses: The Draft; A New Tactic Against War: Renew Talk About Draft". New York Times .
35. "Andrew Young". Encyclopædia Britannica.