Between a River and a Mountain: The AFL-CIO and the Vietnam War

4. New Frontiers

4New Frontiers For free trade unionists, the early 1960s came like a brief Indian summer: overnight long-held hopes and ideals appeared tantalizingly within grasp. Slogging out of the discouraging Eisenhower years, organized labor embraced new frontiers thrown open by the Kennedy and Johnson administrations . Senator John F. Kennedy’s 1960 “we can do better” campaign mantra, paralleling neatly labor’s call for activist government at home and abroad, energized trade union activists. As president, Kennedy spent freely and aggressively pursued his foreign policy objectives. He also cultivated close personal relations with George Meany and Walter Reuther. Following Kennedy’s assassination, Lyndon Johnson quickly surpassed his predecessor , thoroughly seducing organized labor. Johnson’s charm assault begot an unprecedented marriage of purpose between trade union leaders and the White House. The forthright, dynamic foreign policy practiced by the two Democratic presidents—in which social, political, and economic development ranked among top national security strategies—enraptured free trade unionists.1 Shedding its inhibitions, the AFL-CIO enthusiastically tendered its services to the Kennedy and Johnson administrations in the form of a series of joint government-labor programs in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. In the spirit of the times, the AFL-CIO redoubled its efforts in Vietnam; indeed, support of the South Vietnamese labor movement emerged as a priority for U.S. labor. Meany’s circle envisioned Vietnamese organized labor as everything from a potential “paramilitary force” to a source of political leadership for South Vietnam. But the CVTC, though increasingly strong, remained at the mercy of a volatile and authoritarian South Vietnamese government . By the end of 1964, the AFL-CIO, like President Johnson, with 75 whom it increasingly identi‹ed, sensed that the future of South Vietnam and its struggling organized labor movement would demand large-scale American military intervention and an ambitious nation-building program. Such a far-reaching mission, free trade unionists preached, would necessitate a vital role for American labor. “A New Sense of Purpose” Free trade unionists had watched impotently during much of the 1950s as conservative ‹scal policies and budget-cutting measures sti›ed activist government . The result, they believed, had been a feeble foreign policy, anemic economic growth, and costly recessions. After a painful eight years, John F. Kennedy arrived like a knight in shining armor. In the young president, the AFL-CIO gratefully found, at least initially, a leader willing to wield the full powers of the state against the domestic and foreign problems bedeviling the country. During the 1960 campaign, Kennedy excited labor with calls for activist government, an aggressive foreign policy, and expanded federal spending.2 His economic plan quickly won Leon Keyserling’s approbation.3 Following the Democratic convention in Los Angeles, the AFL-CIO strongly endorsed Kennedy and dedicated considerable resources to electing him. Come November, labor reveled in Kennedy’s narrow victory.4 To treat the recession af›icting the nation in 1961, Kennedy borrowed directly from the full-employment war chest.5 He selected Walter Heller to chair his Council of Economic Advisers. Heller, while lacking Keyserling’s single-mindedness, vowed to “return to the spirit as well as the letter of the Employment Act of 1946” and arranged to meet regularly with labor leaders .6 The new president quickly initiated retraining programs for the unemployed , targeted distressed areas for development by signing the Douglas Area Redevelopment Bill into law, increased funding for education, and raised the minimum wage to $1.25 an hour. Signs on desks and of‹ces in the Commerce Department epitomized the new administration’s priorities: “What Have You Done for Growth Today?” While Kennedy did not acquiesce to the far reaches of labor’s economic agenda—which included largescale public works and worker-training projects—compared to Eisenhower the new administration seemed swept up by Keyserling-style growthfocused economics.7 Labor also welcomed Kennedy’s revival of military Keynesianism. Defense spending soared to the highest level since the Korean War, “the largest and swiftest buildup in the country’s peacetime history,” according to JFK aide Theodore Sorensen. The president directed Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara to launch an aggressive program, dubbed Operation Between a River & a Mountain 76 Booster, to direct defense contracts to regions with high unemployment.8 Labor cheered the buildup and enthusiastically reciprocated with an unprecedented “no-strike” pledge in the missile industry, which was to be governed by an eleven-member Missile Site Labor Commission.9...