Editing Silent majority (section)

=== 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>