Not all Americans supported their country’s vast stockpile of nuclear weapons, and many opposed American involvement in the war in Vietnam. They felt that peace should be made with the Soviets and that nuclear weapons should be banned, these were accused of being “Un-American” by McCarthyism. This seems to contradict the democratic ideas of free speech. When the Vietnam War broke out, they thought that the Vietnamese should sort out there own problems and American involvement would increase the bloodshed rather than decrease it. Most anti-war protesters were students at colleges. When four were killed at Kent State University, strikes and riots erupted in campuses throughout the country. War veterans were featured on television in an attempt to make the public views on war change. Eventually, the protesters forced withdrawal of troops, but unfortunately this did not stop the violence that the protesters hoped for.
