The Silent Majority Speech: Richard Nixon, the Vietnam War, and the Origins of the New Right

The Silent Majority Speech treats Richard Nixons address of November 3, 1969, as a lens through which to examine the latter years of the Vietnam War and their significance to U.S. global power and American domestic life.

The book uses Nixons speech which introduced the policy of Vietnamization and cited the so-called bloodbath theory as a justification for continued U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia as a fascinating moment around which to build an analysis of the last years of the war. For Nixons strategy to be successful, he requested the support of what he called the great silent majority, a term that continues to resonate in American political culture. Scott Laderman moves beyond the wars final years to address the administrations hypocritical exploitation of moral rhetoric and its stoking of social divisiveness to achieve policy aims. Laderman explores the antiwar and pro-war movements, the shattering of the liberal consensus, and the stirrings of the right-wing resurgence that would come to define American politics.

Supplemental primary sources make this book an ideal tool for introducing students to historical research. The Silent Majority Speech is critical reading for those studying American political history and U.S.Asian/Southeast Asian relations.