Chapter in Perspective

No event since the Civil War divided Americans as deeply as did the Vietnam War. Ironically, it came at the end of a long period of economic expansion. Yet the shadow of the Cold War fell across that prosperity. The parallel desires to sustain good times and contain communism had encouraged a majority consensus during the 1950s. The War in Vietnam, a war fought to stop a Communist takeover, shattered the consensus, eroded America's desire to wield its power in the world, and upset the economy. The younger generation that challenged other conventions of American culture found it easy to condemn the war and the political leadership that directed it.