Congressional opponents of the Vietnam War
Encyclopedia
This is a list of U.S. Senators
and Representatives
who opposed the Vietnam War
. This includes those who initially supported the war, but later changed their stance to a strong opposition to it.
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
and Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
who opposed the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. This includes those who initially supported the war, but later changed their stance to a strong opposition to it.
| Name | Political Party Affiliation at time of Opposition | Dates in U.S. Congressional Office |
|---|---|---|
| Bella Abzug Bella Abzug Bella Savitsky Abzug was an American lawyer, Congresswoman, social activist and a leader of the Women's Movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan to found the National Women's Political Caucus... |
Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
January 3, 1971 - January 3, 1977 |
| Les Aspin Les Aspin Leslie "Les" Aspin, Jr. was a United States Representative from 1971 to 1993, and the United States Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton from January 21, 1993 to February 3, 1994.-Early life:... |
Democratic | January 3, 1971 - January 20, 1993 |
| George Brown, Jr. George Brown, Jr. George Edward Brown, Jr. was an American politician. He was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1963 to 1971 and from 1973 to 1999, representing Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties in California.-Background:Brown was born in Holtville, California... |
Democratic | January 3, 1963 - January 3, 1971; January 3, 1973 - July 15, 1999 |
| Philip Burton Philip Burton Philip Burton was an Irish Fine Gael politician, farmer and auctioneer. He was elected to Dáil Éireann for the Cork North East constituency at the 1961 general election. He was re-elected at the 1965 and 1969 general elections, but lost his seat at the 1973 general election. He was subsequently... |
Democratic | February 18, 1964 - April 10, 1983 |
| Frank Church Frank Church Frank Forrester Church III was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Idaho from 1957 to 1981.... |
Democratic | January 3, 1957 – January 5, 1981 |
| John Sherman Cooper | Republican Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S... |
November 6, 1946 – January 3, 1949; November 5, 1952 – January 3, 1955; November 7, 1956 – January 3, 1973 |
| Ron Dellums Ron Dellums Ronald Vernie "Ron" Dellums served as Oakland's forty-fifth mayor. From 1971 to 1998, he was elected to thirteen terms as a Member of the U.S... |
Democratic | January 3, 1971 – February 6, 1998 |
| Robert Drinan Robert Drinan Robert Frederick Drinan, S.J. was a Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, lawyer, human rights activist, and Democratic U.S. Representative from Massachusetts... |
Democratic | January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1973; January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1981 |
| J. William Fulbright J. William Fulbright James William Fulbright was a United States Senator representing Arkansas from 1945 to 1975.Fulbright was a Southern Democrat and a staunch multilateralist who supported the creation of the United Nations and the longest serving chairman in the history of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee... |
Democratic | January 3, 1945 – December 31, 1974 |
| Albert Gore, Sr. Albert Gore, Sr. Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Sr. was an American politician, serving as a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator for the Democratic Party from Tennessee.... |
Democratic | January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1971 |
| Mike Gravel Mike Gravel Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel is a former Democratic United States Senator from Alaska, who served two terms from 1969 to 1981, and a former candidate in the 2008 presidential election.... |
Democratic | January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1981 |
| Vance Hartke Vance Hartke Rupert Vance Hartke was a Democratic United States Senator from Indiana from 1959 until 1977.-Early life, education, military service:... |
Democratic | January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1977 |
| Mark Hatfield Mark Hatfield Mark Odom Hatfield was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Republican, he served for 30 years as a United States Senator from Oregon, and also as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee... |
Republican | January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1997 |
| Jacob K. Javits Jacob K. Javits Jacob Koppel "Jack" Javits was a politician who served as United States Senator from New York from 1957 to 1981. A liberal Republican, he was originally allied with Governor Nelson Rockefeller, fellow U.S... |
Republican | January 3, 1947 – December 31, 1954; January 9, 1957 – January 3, 1981 |
| Robert F. Kennedy Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F... |
Democratic | January 3, 1965 – June 6, 1968 |
| Ed Koch Ed Koch Edward Irving "Ed" Koch is an American lawyer, politician, and political commentator. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and three terms as mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989... |
Democratic | January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1973; January 3, 1973 – December 31, 1977 |
| Allard K. Lowenstein Allard K. Lowenstein Allard Kenneth Lowenstein, , was a liberal Democratic politician, a one-term congressman representing the 5th District in Nassau County, New York from 1969 until 1971. His work on civil rights and the antiwar movement has been cited as an inspiration by public figures including Congressmen, John... |
Democratic | 1969-1971 |
| Eugene McCarthy Eugene McCarthy Eugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.In the 1968 presidential election, McCarthy was the first... |
Democratic-Farmer-Labor Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party is a major political party in the state of Minnesota and the state affiliate of the Democratic Party. It was created on April 15, 1944, with the merger of the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Farmer–Labor Party... |
January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1959; January 3, 1959– January 3, 1971 |
| Pete McCloskey Pete McCloskey Paul Norton "Pete" McCloskey Jr. is a former Republican politician from the U.S. state of California who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1967 to 1983. He ran on an anti-war platform for the Republican nomination for President in 1972 but was defeated by incumbent President... |
Republican | December 12, 1967 – January 3, 1983 |
| George McGovern George McGovern George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election.... |
Democratic | January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1961; January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1981 |
| Mike Mansfield Mike Mansfield Michael Joseph Mansfield was an American Democratic politician and the longest-serving Majority Leader of the United States Senate, serving from 1961 to 1977. He also served as United States Ambassador to Japan for over ten years... |
Democratic | January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1953; January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1977 |
| Charles Mathias | Republican | January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1969; January 3, 1969 – January 6, 1987 |
| Patsy Mink Patsy Mink Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink was an American politician from the U.S. state of Hawaii. Mink was a third generation Japanese American and member of the Democratic Party. She also was the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.Mink served in the U.S... |
Democratic | 1965 – 1977; 1991 – 2002 |
| Wayne Morse Wayne Morse Wayne Lyman Morse was a politician and attorney from Oregon, United States, known for his proclivity for opposing his parties' leadership, and specifically for his opposition to the Vietnam War on constitutional grounds.... |
Democratic | January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1969 |
| Tip O'Neill Tip O'Neill Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill, Jr. was an American politician. O'Neill was an outspoken liberal Democrat and influential member of the U.S. Congress, serving in the House of Representatives for 34 years and representing two congressional districts in Massachusetts... |
Democratic | January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1963; January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1987 |
| William Proxmire William Proxmire Edward William Proxmire was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1957 to 1989.-Personal life:... |
Democratic | August 28, 1957 – January 3, 1989 |
| Henry S. Reuss Henry S. Reuss Henry Schoellkopf Reuss was a Democrat U.S. Representative from Wisconsin.-Childhood and education:He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and grew up in that city's German section. Reuss earned his A.B. from Cornell University in 1933 and was a member of the Sphinx Head Society. He then earned his LL.B... |
Democratic | January 3, 1955-January 3, 1983 |
| Donald W. Riegle, Jr. Donald W. Riegle, Jr. Donald Wayne Riegle Jr. is an American politician from Michigan, who served for five terms as a Representative and for three terms as a Senator.-Early life:... |
Republican | March 3, 1966 – December 30, 1976; December 30, 1976 – January 3, 1995 |
| James H. Scheuer James H. Scheuer James Haas Scheuer was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. He was also affiliated with the Liberal Party of New York.-Family and education:... |
Democratic | January 3, 1965 until January 3, 1973; January 3, 1975 until January 3, 1993 |
| Eugene Siler Eugene Siler Eugene Siler was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky between 1955 and 1965. He was the only member of the House of Representatives to oppose the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution... |
Republican | 1955-1963; 1963-1965 |
| Pete Stark Pete Stark Fortney Hillman "Pete" Stark, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1973. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Currently he is the 5th most senior Representative, as well as 6th most senior member of Congress overall... |
Democratic | 1973-present |
| Andrew Young Andrew Young Andrew Jackson Young is an American politician, diplomat, activist and pastor from Georgia. He has served as Mayor of Atlanta, a Congressman from the 5th district, and United States Ambassador to the United Nations... |
Democratic | January 3, 1973 – January 29, 1977 |