Editing Silent majority (section)

== Richard Nixon ==
While Nixon was serving in 1955 as vice-president to [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], [[John F. Kennedy]] and his research assistants wrote in Kennedy's book ''[[Profiles in Courage]]'', "Some of them may have been representing the actual sentiments of the silent majority of their constituents in opposition to the screams of a vocal minority..."<ref>{{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=John F. |title=Profiles in Courage |publisher=Harper |year=1955 |page=220 |chapter=XI. The Meaning of Courage |isbn=0-06-054439-2 }}; http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKPP-030-005.aspx, p.3</ref> In January 1956, Kennedy gave Nixon an autographed copy of the book. Nixon wrote back the next day to thank him: "My time for reading has been rather limited recently, but your book is first on my list and I am looking forward to reading it with great pleasure and interest."<ref>{{cite book |last=Matthews |first=Christopher |author-link=Chris Matthews |title=Kennedy & Nixon: the rivalry that shaped postwar America |year=1997 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=0-684-83246-1 |page=106}}</ref> Nixon wrote ''[[Six Crises]]'', some say his response to Kennedy's book, after visiting Kennedy at the White House in April 1961.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theawl.com/2009/11/literary-vices-with-rudolph-delson-richard-nixons-six-crises |title=Literary Vices, with Rudolph Delson: Richard Nixon's 'Six Crises' |last=Delson |first=Rudolph |author-link=Rudolph Delson |date=November 10, 2009 |work=The Awl |access-date=February 22, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110227064721/http://www.theawl.com/2009/11/literary-vices-with-rudolph-delson-richard-nixons-six-crises |archive-date=February 27, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5001348667 |title=Richard Nixon's Political Hinterland: The Shadows of JFK and Charles de Gaulle |last=Roper |first=Jon |year=1998 |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=422 |access-date=February 22, 2011}}</ref>

In 1967, labor leader [[George Meany]] asserted that those labor unionists (such as himself) who supported the Vietnam War were "the vast, silent majority in the nation."<ref>Perlstein, 2008, p. 212</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Varon |first=Jeremy |title=Bringing the war home: the Weather Underground, the Red Army Faction, and revolutionary violence in the sixties and seventies |url=https://archive.org/details/bringingwarhomew0000varo |url-access=registration |year=2004 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-24119-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bringingwarhomew0000varo/page/330 330] }}</ref> Meany's statement may have provided Nixon's speechwriters with the specific turn of phrase.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hixson |first=Walter L. |title=The myth of American diplomacy: national identity and U.S. foreign policy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DNId6HxkzQwC&pg=PA251|year=2008 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-11912-1 |page=251 }}</ref>

[[Barbara Ehrenreich]]<ref name=ehrenreich-1990/> and [[Jay Caspian Kang]]<ref name="KANG-30-8-21"/> later argued that awareness by the media and politicians that there actually might be a silent majority opposed to the anti-war movement was heightened during the August [[1968 Democratic National Convention]] in Chicago, especially in reaction to the widely broadcast [[1968_Democratic_National_Convention#Protests_and_police_response|violence by police against protesters and media]] there. The media reacted indignantly "against the police and the mayor" after journalists and protesters were attacked and beaten by the police, but were stunned to find that a poll showed 56% of those surveyed "sympathized with the police".<ref name="KANG-30-8-21">{{cite news |last1=KANG |first1=JAY CASPIAN |title=When the 'Silent Majority' Isn't White |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/30/opinion/silent-majority-white-media.html |access-date=31 August 2021 |agency=New York Times |date=30 August 2021}}</ref><ref name=ehrenreich-1990>{{cite book |last1=Ehrenreich |first1= Barbara |title=Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class |date= 1990 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=voeYDwAAQBAJ&dq=Media+leaders+moved+quickly+to+correct+what+they+now+came+to+see+as+their+%E2%80%9Cbias.%E2%80%9D+Barbara+Ehrenreich&pg=PT105 |chapter=3. The Discovery of the Working Class |publisher= Grand Central |isbn= 9781455543748 |access-date=30 August 2021}}</ref> "Overnight the press abandoned its protest", awaking "to the disturbing possibility that they had grown estranged from a sizable segment of the public."<ref name=ehrenreich-1990/><ref name="KANG-30-8-21"/>

In the months leading up to Nixon's 1969 speech, his vice-president [[Spiro T. Agnew]] said on May 9, "It is time for America's silent majority to stand up for its rights, and let us remember the American majority includes every minority. America's silent majority is bewildered by irrational protest..."<ref name="Safire">{{cite book|last=Safire |first=William |author-link=William Safire |title=Safire's Political Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press U.S. |year=2008 |page=660 |isbn=978-0-19-534334-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c4UoX6-Sv1AC&pg=PA660 |access-date=April 15, 2010 }}</ref> Soon thereafter, journalist [[Theodore H. White]] analyzed the previous year's elections, writing "Never have America's leading cultural media, its university thinkers, its influence makers been more intrigued by experiment and change; but in no election have the mute masses more completely separated themselves from such leadership and thinking. Mr. Nixon's problem is to interpret what the silent people think, and govern the country against the grain of what its more important thinkers think."<ref name="Safire" />

On October 15, 1969, the first [[Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam]] demonstrations were held, attracting thousands of protesters.<ref>Karnow, Stanley ''Vietnam: A History'', New York: Viking Books, 1983 p.599-600.</ref> Feeling very much besieged, Nixon went on national television to deliver a rebuttal speech on November 3, 1969, where he outlined "my plan to end the war" in Vietnam.<ref name="auto">Karnow, Stanley ''Vietnam: A History'', New York: Viking Books, 1983 p.600.</ref> In his speech Nixon stated his policy of Vietnamization would lower American losses as the South Vietnamese Army would take on the burden of fighting the war; announced his willingness to compromise provided that North Vietnam recognized South Vietnam; and finally promised he would take "strong and effective measures" against North Vietnam if the war continued.<ref name="auto">Karnow, Stanley ''Vietnam: A History'', New York: Viking Books, 1983 p.600.</ref> Nixon also implicitly conceded to the anti-war movement that South Vietnam was really not very important as he maintained that the real issue was the global credibility of the United States, as he stated his belief that all of America's allies would lose faith in American promises if the United States were to abandon South Vietnam.<ref name="auto"/> Nixon ended his speech by saying all of this would take time, and asked for the public to support his policy of winning "peace with honor" in Vietnam as he concluded: "And so tonight, to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans—I ask for your support. Let us be united for peace. Let us be united against defeat. Because let us understand: North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States. Only Americans can do that".<ref name="auto"/> The public reaction to the "silent majority speech" was very favorable at the time and the White House phone lines were overwhelmed with thousands of phone calls in the hours afterward as too many people called to congratulate the president for his speech.<ref name="auto"/>

Thirty-five years later, Nixon speechwriter [[Pat Buchanan]] recalled using the phrase in a memo to the president. He explained how Nixon singled out the phrase and went on to make use of it in his speech: "We [had] used 'forgotten Americans' and 'quiet Americans' and other phrases. And in one memo I mentioned twice the phrase 'silent majority', and it's double-underlined by Richard Nixon, and it would pop up in 1969 in that great speech that basically made his presidency." Buchanan noted that while he had written the memo that contained the phrase, "Nixon wrote that speech entirely by himself."<ref>[[Pat Buchanan|Buchanan, Pat]] (October 2, 2014). ''The World Over Live''.</ref>

=== Nixon's constituency ===
Nixon's silent majority referred mainly to the older generation (those [[World War II]] veterans in all parts of the U.S.) but it also described many young people in the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]], [[Western United States|West]] and in the [[Southern United States|South]], many of whom eventually served in [[Vietnam]]. The Silent Majority was mostly populated by [[blue collar]] white people who did not take an active part in politics: suburban, [[exurban]] and rural middle class voters.<ref name=Perlstein748 /> They did, in some cases, support the [[American conservatism|conservative]] policies of many politicians.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Coleman |first=David |author-link= |date=17 September 2022 |title=Nixon's Presidential Approval Ratings |url=https://historyinpieces.com/research/nixon-approval-ratings}}</ref> According to columnist Kenneth Crawford, "Nixon's forgotten men should not be confused with Roosevelt's", adding that "Nixon's are comfortable, housed, clad and fed, who constitute the middle stratum of society. But they aspire to more and feel menaced by those who have less."<ref>LBJ: Architect of American Ambition by Randall B. Woods</ref>

In his famous speech, Nixon contrasted his international strategy of [[political realism]] with the "idealism" of a "vocal minority." He stated that following the radical minority's demands to withdraw all troops immediately from Vietnam would bring defeat and be disastrous for world peace. Appealing to the silent majority, Nixon asked for united support "to end the war in a way that we could win the peace." The speech was one of the first to codify the [[Nixon Doctrine]], according to which, "the defense of freedom is everybody's business—not just America's business."<ref name="Great Speeches">{{cite book|last=Safire |first=William |author-link=William Safire |title=Lend me your ears: great speeches in history |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=2004 |page=993 |isbn=0-393-05931-6 |edition=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EKkO4JBxtVkC&pg=PA993}}</ref> After giving the speech, Nixon's approval ratings which had been hovering around 50% shot up to 81% in the nation and 86% in the [[Southern United States|South]].<ref>Perlstein, 2008, p. 444</ref>

In January 1970, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] put on their cover an abstract image of a man and a woman representing "Middle America" as a replacement for their annual "[[Time Person of the Year|Man of the Year]]" award. Publisher Roy E. Larsen wrote that "the events of 1969 transcended specific individuals. In a time of dissent and 'confrontation', the most striking new factor was the emergence of the Silent Majority as a powerfully assertive force in U.S. society."<ref name=Time1970>{{cite magazine|last=Larsen|first=Roy|date=January 5, 1970|title=A Letter From The Publisher|magazine=Time|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,943108,00.html#ixzz1EiZ91J8D|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101030171118/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,943108,00.html#ixzz1EiZ91J8D|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 30, 2010}}</ref> Larsen described how the silent majority had elected Nixon, had put a man on the moon, and how this demographic felt threatened by "attacks on traditional values".<ref name=Time1970 />

The silent majority theme has been a contentious issue amongst journalists since Nixon used the phrase. Some thought Nixon used it as part of the [[Southern strategy]]; others claim it was Nixon's way of dismissing the obvious protests going on around the country, and Nixon's attempt to get other Americans not to listen to the protests. Whatever the rationale, Nixon won a landslide victory in
[[1972 U.S. presidential election|1972]], taking 49 of 50 states, vindicating his "silent majority". The opposition vote was split successfully, with 80% of [[George Wallace]] supporters voting for Nixon rather than [[George McGovern]], unlike Wallace himself.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Rise and fall of the New Deal order, 1930–1980 |last1=Fraser |first1=Steve |last2=Gerstle |first2=Gary |page=263 |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1989 |isbn=0-691-00607-5}}</ref>

Nixon's use of the phrase was part of his strategy to divide Americans and to polarize them into two groups.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fzngRdtN_-cC&pg=PA262 |pages=262–263 |title=Private Lives/Public Consequences: Personality and Politics in Modern America |last=Chafe |first=William Henry |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-674-02932-3}}</ref> He used "divide and conquer" tactics to win his political battles, and in 1971 he directed Agnew to speak about "positive polarization" of the electorate.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-frick/obama-defeats-nixon_b_146483.html |title=Obama Defeats... Nixon? |last=Frick |first=Daniel |date=November 26, 2008 |newspaper=Huffington Post |access-date=May 31, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19971109/2571262/the-nixon-tapes-unleashed----manipulative-master-politician |title=The Nixon Tapes Unleashed – Manipulative Master Politician |newspaper=The Seattle Times |date=November 9, 1997 }} Reprint of the ''Washington Post'' report by [[Walter Pincus]] and George Lardner Jr.: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/nixon/103097trick.htm "Kennedy, Muskie, Jackson Eyed for Nixon Dirty Tricks in '71"]</ref> The "silent majority" shared Nixon's anxieties and fears that normalcy was being eroded by changes in society.<ref name=Perlstein748>Perlstein, 2008, p. 748</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Black |first=Conrad |title=Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full |publisher=Perseus Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-58648-519-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781586485191/page/658 658, 764] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781586485191/page/658 }}</ref> The other group was composed of intellectuals, cosmopolitans, professionals and liberals, those willing to "live and let live."<ref name=Perlstein748 /> Both groups saw themselves as the higher patriots.<ref name=Perlstein748 /> According to Republican pollster [[Frank Luntz]], "silent majority" is but one of many labels which have been applied to the same group of voters. According to him, past labels used by the media include "silent majority" in the 1960s, "forgotten middle class" in the 1970s, "[[angry white male]]s" in the 1980s, "[[soccer moms]]" in the 1990s, and "[[NASCAR dad]]s" in the 2000s.<ref>{{cite book|pages=[https://archive.org/details/wordsthatworkits00lunt/page/199 199–200]|last=Luntz|first=Frank I.|title=Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear|url=https://archive.org/details/wordsthatworkits00lunt|url-access=registration|location=New York|publisher=Hyperion|year=2007|isbn=978-1-4013-0308-2}}</ref>