Editing Peace Action (section)

== History ==
Peace Action was founded as 'SANE' in 1957 by [[Lenore Marshall]] and [[Norman Cousins]] and others in response to the [[nuclear arms race]] and the [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] administration's policies on the production and testing of [[nuclear weapon]]s. [[William Sloane Coffin]], former chaplain of Yale University and political activist, retired from Riverside Church to become President of SANE/FREEZE in 1987.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-apr-13-me-coffin13-story.html |title=William Sloane Coffin Jr, 81; Former Yale Chaplain and Civil Rights, Peace Activist |author=Mary Rourke |date=April 13, 2006 |newspaper=LA Times }}</ref> The name "SANE" came from the concepts put forth by [[Erich Fromm]] in his book ''The Sane Society''.<ref>{{ISBN|1-199-36561-0}}</ref> The group's aim was to alert Americans of the threat of nuclear weapons.  A full-page advertisement placed in ''[[The New York Times]]'' in November 1957 provoked a nationwide response, and by 1958 the membership of the organization had grown to 25,000. SANE was formally incorporated in July of that year.

Various influential people and celebrities began to get involved with the organization and show support for their cause. In 1959, [[Steve Allen]] hosted a meeting that founded the Hollywood SANE. Members included [[Marlon Brando]], [[Henry Fonda]], [[Marilyn Monroe]], [[Arthur Miller]], [[Harry Belafonte]], and [[Ossie Davis]]. In 1960, a SANE rally held at [[Madison Square Garden]] attracted 20,000 to hear [[Eleanor Roosevelt]], [[Norman Cousins]], [[Norman Thomas]], [[A. Philip Randolph]], [[Walter Reuther]], and [[Harry Belafonte]] call for an end to the arms race. International sponsors of SANE (including [[Martin Buber]], [[Pablo Casals]], [[Bertrand Russell]] and [[Albert Schweitzer]]) petitioned President [[John F. Kennedy]] to maintain a moratorium on testing in the atmosphere. Graphic Artists for SANE was also organized, with members that included [[Jules Feiffer]], [[Ben Shahn]], and [[Edward Sorel]].

The group launched campaigns and rallies to drum up support for its cause and to put pressure on political figures. In 1961, SANE hosted an eight-day, 109-mile march from [[McGuire Air Force Base]] to the [[United Nations]] Plaza that was attended by more than 25,000 people. They organized a rally of over 10,000 people on "Cuba Sunday" to express concern and outrage over the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]. Dr. Spock became a national sponsor and appeared in an ad stating "Dr. Spock is worried." The ad was printed in 700 papers worldwide.

=== Early political influence ===
As a way of seeing their goals achieved, SANE began working through its political lobbying programs. The organization began by pushing for the election of congressional candidates whose positions reflected those of the organization. In 1966, SANE formed the "Voter's Peace Pledge Campaign" to urge Congressional candidates to work for peace in Vietnam. They became one of the first national organizations to advocate removal of President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] from office. They went on to endorse [[Eugene McCarthy]] as the [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] presidential candidate in 1968.

SANE's Norman Cousins acted as an unofficial liaison between President Kennedy and Soviet Premier [[Nikita Khrushchev]] on the [[Partial Test Ban Treaty]] negotiations. The organization helped secure the passage of the [[War Powers Resolution]]. As the [[Vietnam War]] began to escalate, SANE organized a rally at Madison Square Garden that attracted 18,000 people opposing the war, as well as a march on Washington in November 1965 drawing 35,000. Three days after the march, Vice-president [[Hubert Humphrey]] met with SANE leaders Dr. Spock, Sanford Gottlieb, and Homer Jack "to openly, responsibly, and frankly discuss their proposals" to end the war. Many more SANE marches on Washington would occur throughout the war.

SANE would go on to criticize the [[Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty]] and [[Strategic Arms Limitation Talks|SALT]] agreements for ignoring offensive strategic weapons. Following [[Richard Nixon]]'s re-election, SANE advocated Congressional cut-off of funds for the Vietnam war. After the end of the Vietnam War, SANE lobbied to have Congress end the bombing of [[Cambodia]], and helped lead a successful effort to pass the [[War Powers Resolution|War Powers Act]]. SANE would also take on the military budget, and produced the "America Has a Tapeworm" ad. Despite the end of the war, SANE continued actions throughout the 1970s that promoted its purpose.

=== Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign ===
{{main|Nuclear Freeze campaign}}
During the 1980s, SANE continued to monitor the political and military actions of the U.S. government and beyond. In 1981, The Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign began with the purpose of pressuring the government to stop the nuclear arms build-up. The campaign was initiated by [[Randall Forsberg]]'s call to "freeze and reverse the nuclear arms race".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thebulletin.org/web-edition/columnists/hugh-gusterson/the-new-abolitionists |title=The new abolitionists |author=Hugh Gusterson |date=30 March 2012 |work=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606022845/http://www.thebulletin.org/web-edition/columnists/hugh-gusterson/the-new-abolitionists |archive-date=6 June 2013 }}</ref> Many SANE leaders participated in the creation of 'the Freeze', as it was sometimes called, which was a grassroots-based confederation of groups spanning the country. Freeze leaders included [[Randall Forsberg]], [[Helen Caldicott]], [[Pam Solo]], and [[Randy Kehler]]. Elected officials such as Rep. [[Patricia Schroeder]] and Sen. [[Ted Kennedy]] helped to lead the movement in Congress. The Freeze's grassroots network pushed for nuclear reductions through ballot initiatives in towns and cities across the nation.

Specifically, the Freeze's goal was to get the U.S. and the Soviet Union to simultaneously adopt a mutual freeze on the testing, production, and deployment of nuclear weapons and of missiles, as well as new aircraft designed primarily to deliver nuclear weapons. Much emphasis was put on the [[LGM-118A Peacekeeper#Development and deployment|MX]] and [[Pershing II]] missiles. Randall Forsberg was the organizer who initiated this idea of the "mutual, verifiable" Freeze.

During 1982, the SANE [[political action committee]] was formed for the political election year. Aside from working to get selected candidates elected, it became a driving force behind many proposed nuclear freeze referendums. In a victory for both the Freeze campaign and SANE, [[Ronald Reagan]] proposed [[START I]], part of a two-phase treaty between the U.S. and the [[Soviet Union|USSR]] that would reduce overall warhead counts on any missile type.

In roughly the 1983–84 period, when the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign was planning expansively around mass-movement fund raising, lobbying, and Political Action Committees (PACs), SANE was merged into that entity, though local SANE chapters would continue to hold meetings for some time to come. Specific congressional races were targeted, and some of the pro-Freeze candidates credited the movement, and the grass-roots funds it raised, with their success in getting elected, or re-elected, to Congress.  From 1984 on, the movement had three actual legal entities, the 'Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign', with both public education and lobbying arms (501.C-3 and 501.C-4 corporations), and the Freeze Voter PAC (501.C-5).

During the 1980s, SANE/FREEZE expanded its work to oppose U.S. military intervention in [[El Salvador]] and to end U.S. military aid to the [[Contra (guerrillas)|Contras]] in [[Nicaragua]]. The organization promoted its agenda in different ways. An ad was placed in [[Variety (magazine)|Variety magazine]] signed by over 250 celebrities including [[Jack Lemmon]], [[Burt Lancaster]], [[James Earl Jones]], [[Sally Field]], [[Shirley MacLaine]], and [[Ed Asner]] supporting its causes. A weekly radio program by SANE/FREEZE, "Consider the Alternatives", reaches 140 radio stations. Their door canvassing campaign reached 250,000 households.

=== The Gulf War and the War on Terror ===
Following Iraq's [[invasion of Kuwait]], SANE/FREEZE opposed the U.S. military buildup in the [[Persian Gulf]]. Throughout the [[Gulf War]], the organization coordinated anti-war marches in Washington, DC, helping to mobilize 500,000 protesters. Soon after, in 1993, SANE/FREEZE renamed itself '''Peace Action'''.

Of great concern to Peace Action in 1995 was the conference for review of the [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]]. The signatories to the treaty decided by consensus to extend the treaty indefinitely and without conditions. The year also marked the 50th anniversary of the [[atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]].

The next year Peace Action launched Peace Voter '96, the organization's largest nationally coordinated campaign since the mid-1980s. Over one million Peace Voter Guides were distributed for the November elections. Also that year, Peace Action joined human-rights groups to stop major weapons sales to Indonesia and Turkey. In 1997, Indonesia withdrew its request for U.S. fighter jets due to "unwarranted criticism" of their human-rights record.

In 1999, Peace Action opposed the [[Kosovo War|NATO bombing of Kosovo]], which it described as "cruise missile humanitarianism", and founded the National Coalition for Peace and Justice, a body uniting most of the major peace groups in the country. Also that year, Peace Action commemorated the bombing of [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]] by staging a demonstration at [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]] in New Mexico. The demonstration was led by actor [[Martin Sheen]].

Following the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]], Peace Action responded to the war on terrorism and the bombing of [[Afghanistan]] with a call for justice, not war. The group went on to participate in two national coalitions: Win Without War and [[United for Peace and Justice]].