Silent Majority

This study guide will help you analyze Richard Nixon’s “Silent Majority” speech. In addition to help with your analysis, you can find a summary of the text and ideas for putting it into perspective.

Presentation of the text

Title: “Silent Majority” (1969)

Sender: Richard Nixon

Genre: Speech

Richard Nixon (1913-1994) was the 37^th president of the United States. Before that, Nixon served as vice president under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Nixon’s Vietnamization policy was intended to end the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. In his “Silent Majority” speech, Nixon presents his policy and calls for American citizens to support him and his goal. The speech was a response to one of the largest anti-war protests where 15 million Americans marched against the Vietnam War and called for an immediate withdrawal of all American troops in Vietnam.

Extract

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Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam

Nixon’s speech was delivered on the 3^rd of November 1969 as a response to a large anti-war demonstration that took place on the 15^th of October 1969 calling for the end of the war in Vietnam.

The Vietnam War was unpopular for many reasons. One of them was the draft system, which meant that a number of American men were chosen to fight in the war, and they were not allowed to refuse. The draft system mainly selected young people from minority groups or from lower and middle-class white families. Many saw the US involvement in Vietnam as unnecessary. The high number of civilian deaths was another reason why many people opposed the war.