The Conservative Movement and the Vietnam War

This in-depth study examines how the politics surrounding the Vietnam War shaped the modern conservative movement in the United States, as disputes about the war splintered the right, with libertarians opposing the Vietnam War and religious and Christian evangelical conservatives supporting

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The Vietnam War was the central political issue of the 1960s and 1970s. This study by Seth Offenbach explains how the conflict shaped modern conservatism. The war caused disputes between the pro-war anti-communists right and libertarian conservatives who opposed the war. At the same time, Christian evangelicals supported the war and began forming alliances with the mainstream, pro-war right. This enabled the formation of the New Right movement which came to dominate U.S. politics at the end of the twentieth century. The Conservative Movement and the Vietnam War explains the right’s changes between Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan.