The U.S. Peace Council was an activist organization founded in the late 1970's.

NATO's decision to deploy a new generation of strategic nuclear warheads in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and U.S. President Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

's planned military buildup program signaled the end of detente

Détente

Détente is the easing of strained relations, especially in a political situation. The term is often used in reference to the general easing of relations between the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1970s, a thawing at a period roughly in the middle of the Cold War...

, a return to heightened Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 tensions, and renewed fears of nuclear war.

The Peace Council held three days of organizational meetings were held at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., attended by approximately 275 to 300 people from thirty-three states, Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, and the Soviet Union. They later were one of many groups that organized a June 1982 huge peace protest in New York City. Edward J. O'Malley, assistant FBI director of intelligence charged that KGB officers were instructed "to devote serious attention to the antiwar movement in the United States," and were infiltrating it.

Notable members

Over the years, leading members of the U.S. Peace Council have included:

• Barbara Lee
  Barbara Lee
  Barbara Jean Lee is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1998. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She is the first woman to represent that district. Lee was the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and was the Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus...
  
  , current member of the U.S. Congress
• James E. Jackson (1914-2007), veteran civil rights leader.
• Alice Palmer
  Alice Palmer (Illinois politician)
  Alice J. Palmer is an American educator and former Democratic member of the Illinois Senate. Known as a longtime progressive activist, Palmer represented the state's 13th senate district from June 6, 1991 until January 8, 1997...
  
  , Illinois State Senator
• Leslie Cagan
  Leslie Cagan
  Leslie Cagan is an American activist, writer, and socialist organizer involved with the peace and social justice movements. She is the former national coordinator of United for Peace and Justice, the former co-chair of Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, and the former chair...
  
  , coordinator of anti-war coalition United for Peace and Justice.