The Vietnam War is the standard for unpopular wars in US history. Public opinion turned negative on the Vietnam War in July 1967 when 46% of Americans told Gallup that the war was a mistake compared to 44% who said that it was not.
The idea that Vietnam was a mistake did not become the majority opinion in the United States until August 1968. It took a year of opposition to the war to reach a majority.
By 1971-1973, only 28%-29% of the American people thought Vietnam wasn’t a mistake. The current public opinion approval of Trump’s Iran war is 27%.
Polling, like everything else, took much more time in the Vietnam era than it does today. The fast spread of information and the equally rapid ability to collect public feedback on policy decisions mean that the shifts in public opinion cycle and occur more rapidly.
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The perception of all subsequent wars has been viewed through the lens of Vietnam and Iraq.
Let’s examine how popular coalitions for war are built and the mistakes that the Trump administration is making below.
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