TYPED LETTER SIGNED (TLS)

Washington, 22 October 1969. Letter. Fine. Interesting letter on Office of the Minority Leader stationery thanking the recipient for his letter concerning the attitude of students and teachers towards Nixon's handling of the Vietnam War. In part: "....Too many of our students act without knowing the facts and are too easily swept away by the emotions of the moment. When they have an opportunity to discuss the issues with a well-informed instructor they are reasonable. As you know, in some cases college instructors are as unreasonable and emotional as some of the students.... I am enclosing a copy of my newsletter of October 20 [not present but available online] in which I outlined briefly my views on the Moratorium. As usual, we are in precise agreement." SIGNED "Jerry." The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, on 15 October 1969, was a massive demonstration and teach-in across the United States against the United States involvement in the Vietnam War, the first time protest against the war reached the level of a full-fledged mass movement. It was followed a month later by a large Moratorium March in Washington. In response to the Moratorium, on the evening of 3 November 1969, Nixon went on national television to give his "silent majority speech" asking for the support of the "silent majority" of Americans for his Vietnam War policy. Ford, not yet Nixon's vice president, was in lockstep with Nixon on Vietnam, as is evidenced by the newsletter he mentions which lays out his views on both the Moratorium and Nixon's handling of the war: "The current attack on President Nixon can be likened to the football team which attacks its own quarterback. They may vent their emotions but they are not going to win the game."