In a televised speech on April 30, 1970, President Nixon announced an expansion of the Vietnam War through an invasion of Cambodia. Anti-war protest spread across the United States as a result of this announcement. On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guard troops, sent onto the campus of Kent State University to control student protests, opened fire on the demonstrators. Four students were killed. Speaking before the New Hampshire Chamber of Commerce on May 7th, 1970, Senator Barry Goldwater (Arizona) reflected on the deepening polarization in the United States over the Vietnam War. He blamed a “mixed bag of liberals and anarchists” for undermining the President’s foreign policy and conduct of the war. Senator Goldwater’s statement is an early association of liberalism with political dissension.
Greenfield Recorder. “Anarchists Blamed for Dissension.” May 7, 1970. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l06-042/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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