Eugene McCarthy, War, and the Draft

What he could and couldn't do.

Eugene McCarthy, 1964 (portrait: Louis Fabian Bachrach Jr)

Eugene McCarthy was born on this day (March 29) in 1916. A U.S. Senator from Minnesota, his claim to fame was his 1968 Democratic primary challenge to President Lyndon B. Johnson on an anti-Vietnam War platform.

McCarthy finished second to the President in the New Hampshire primary but amassed 42% of the vote. This strong result prompted Robert F. Kennedy, a more famous figure, to enter the race on an antiwar platform. Johnson saw the writing on the wall and withdrew from seeking renomination.

The race between McCarthy and Kennedy was close. Vice President Hubert Humphrey did not actively campaign because the rules at the time told him he didn't need to. Kennedy was assassinated on June 6 of that year. McCarthy entered the Democratic National Convention with a plurality, but not majority, of primary votes and committed delegates. George McGovern, who had not run in the primaries, also announced his candidacy.

Kennedy's delegates largely chose Humphrey, who won the nomination. Humphrey, however, couldn't distance himself from unpopular Johnson Administration policies and lost the election to Richard M. Nixon. After 1968, both major parties passed reforms that allowed the primaries to have a more binding role in the party nominations.

Under the new rules, the antiwar faction of the Democratic Party prevailed when McGovern won the nomination in 1972. The Democratic leadership, however, refused to support him, and the Democrats have run candidates ever since who've been hawks to some degree.

The fact that McCarthy and McGovern succeeded even to the degree they did had less to do with the Vietnam War itself, but with the draft. Young men were forced to fight and die in a country for reasons that weren't so clear as, say, World War II or even Korea. Nixon understood this, and promised to end the draft in his 1968 campaign. According to Andrew Glass,

Nixon thought ending the draft could be an effective political weapon against the burgeoning anti-war movement. He believed middle-class youths would lose interest in protesting the war once it became clear that they would not have to fight, and possibly die, in Vietnam.

Nixon didn't keep his promise in his first term, but the draft, which had been active for most years since World War II, ended at the beginning of his second term. The draft has yet to be reinstated.

In this age of the all-volunteer military, nobody's sons and brothers (and now also daughters and sisters) are in danger of being wounded or killed in war unless they sign up. They assumed the risks voluntarily when they enlisted.

One unfortunate consequence is that the issue of war becomes abstract. For most American voters, it's just one issue among many. Some people get far more passionate in opposing trans rights, and others are more passionate about how much the wealthy pay in taxes, than they are about America's bombing campaigns and funding of foreign wars.

War isn't a moral issue to them, it's just an instrument of foreign policy.

During Vietnam, the issue of war was more immediate because the prospect of one's son or brother getting drafted was even more critical than "bread and butter" issues like unemployment or inflation.

That said, America is undeniably better off without the involuntary servitude of the draft. If not for Eugene McCarthy's insurgent bid against the incumbent President of his own party, which gave voice to the anti-war/anti-draft movement, we might still be living (and dying) with the draft.

McCarthy didn't end the Vietnam War, but he did help create a political environment that ended the draft. For that, we should be thankful.

As for ending the wars, that might be a question for each individual's heart to address. War is mass murder and mass destruction. It creates massive public health crises and massive poverty.

One would think that war would always be the number one issue. The economic and social distress of American life pales in comparison to that of war-torn countries. Is it even possible to be genuinely concerned about liberty and justice at home when we continually keep other nations in chaos and misery?

McCarthy helped end the draft. It may be time we all helped end the wars.

© James Leroy Wilson. You may republish with attribution and a link or URL to the original.

James Leroy Wilson writes The MVP Chase (subscribe) and JL Cells (subscribe). Thank you for your subscriptions and support! You may contact James for writing, editing, research, and other work: jamesleroywilson-at-gmail.com.