Confronting the War Machine

Draft Resistance During the Vietnam War

By: Michael S. Foley

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Paperback | 31 March 2003

At a Glance

Paperback
456 Pages

Edition Type
New edition

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23.5 x 15.88 x 3.18

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Shedding light on an understudied form of opposition to the Vietnam War, Michael Foley tells the story of draft resistance, the cutting edge of the antiwar movement at the height of the war's escalation. Unlike so-called draft dodgers, who evaded the draft by leaving the country or by securing a draft deferment by fraudulent means, draft resisters openly defied draft laws by burning or turning in their draft cards. Like civil rights activists before them, draft resisters invited prosecution and imprisonment.

Focusing on Boston, one of the movement's most prominent centers, Foley reveals the crucial role of draft resisters in shifting antiwar sentiment from the margins of society to the center of American politics. Their actions inspired other draft-age men opposed to the war--especially college students--to reconsider their place of privilege in a draft system that offered them protections and sent disproportionate numbers of working-class and minority men to Vietnam. This recognition sparked the change of tactics from legal protest to mass civil disobedience, drawing the Johnson administration into a confrontation with activists who were largely suburban, liberal, young, and middle class--the core of Johnson's Democratic constituency.

Examining the day-to-day struggle of antiwar organizing carried out by ordinary Americans at the local level, Foley argues for a more complex view of citizenship and patriotism during a time of war.

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"Here we are introduced to a group of people who confronted some of the most difficult political and moral dilemmas of the entire Cold War period, and did so with seriousness, commitment, and courage." - Christian G. Appy, author of Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam

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Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Abbreviations	p. xvii
Introduction: Draft Resistance in American Memory	p. 3
Toward a Movement
A Little Band of Bold Pioneers	p. 19
The Draft as a Political Issue and a Movement Target	p. 48
October 16: A Resolute Show of Moral Force	p. 76
Confrontations and Misconceptions
Filtered Resistance: Draft Resisters' Image and Reality	p. 113
Uneasy Waiting: Draft Resisters and the Johnson Administration	p. 131
Getting by with a Little Help from Their Friends	p. 160
Peaks, Valleys, and the Changing Horizon
A New Beginning: Confrontation, Renewal, and Triumph	p. 225
Spring 1968: A Hothouse Atmosphere	p. 264
Beyond Draft Resistance: New Strategies and Dangling Men	p. 296
Epilogue	p. 337
Tables	p. 349
Statement of Methodology	p. 363
Letter to Survey Recipients and Questionnaire	p. 367
Notes	p. 387
Bibliography	p. 425
Index	p. 439
Table of Contents provided by Rittenhouse. All Rights Reserved.

Confronting the War Machine

Draft Resistance During the Vietnam War

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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