The Politics of Failed Wars: Conservatism and Vietnam, 1964–68

The contemporary conservative movement is suffering from the weight of a failed War in Iraq and from the 2008 presidential election – which is viewed by many as a repudiation of President George Bush’s policies. Because the Republican Party’s policies helped push through the Iraq War, their brand of politics has suffered. The same problem occurred in the early 1960s, during the Vietnam War. During that war, the conservative movement was one of the most outspoken supporters of expanding the war effort, pushing President Lyndon Johnson to use more assertive war policies. As the war soured during Johnson’s term, the conservative movement lost political influence. Eventually, conservatives were forced to grow their ideology, with the growth stemming directly from the movement’s continued support for the war.
My presentation will focus on the various ways conservatism was affected by its unbridled support for a greater war effort during Johnson’s presidency. It will explore how the ideology became stale and ineffective because it was constantly promoting the same suggestions for expanding the war – only to see the war end with the loss of South Vietnam. This hurt the movement’s goals of expanding and becoming more popular politically. Additionally, the presentation adds to the historiography by explaining the effects on the movement when a large minority of conservatives held dissenting opinions opposing the war in 1967 and 1968. This forced the movement to transform its ideology. The Vietnam War was a turning point in the history of modern conservatism, and this presentation will explore how the war forced the movement to grow and change its ideology.