Probable Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry will likely face a challenge on the left from Ralph Nader soon, but 32 years ago, Kerry showered his possible electoral spoiler with praise in a speech at the College.
Kerry implored Dartmouth students "to be their own Ralph Nader" in opposing the Vietnam War, urging the audience to "break the cycle of non-involvement."
Kerry, who had recently served as president of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, spoke on Jan. 10, 1972 at the Top of the Hop, where he urged students and Americans who opposed the Vietnam War to involve themselves in politics with greater zeal. Regarding Ralph Nader, Kerry said that opponents of the war "must be public citizens in every aspect of our lives," as Kerry apparently thought Nader did.
Kerry also took then-controversial positions relating to those who fled the draft. He favored "amnesty and repatriation" for deserters and draft dodgers, although he doubted that Americans would accept his stance. In order to convince the country to give amnesty to deserters, Kerry proposed repatriation contingent on some sort of national service.
Although Kerry's remarks were controversial at the time, Russell Caplan '72, former executive editor of The Dartmouth, said time has healed many of the scars of Vietnam.
Indeed, President Jimmy Carter followed through on a campaign promise just a day after his inauguration by granting a pardon to those who avoided the draft by either not registering or avoiding the war.
Kerry has shrewdly avoided publicly criticizing President Bush's National Guard service, which some critics of the president have dismissed as akin to draft dodging. But, Kerry has no doubt benefited from the sharp contrast between their Vietnam experiences.
"I've never made any judgments about any choice somebody made about avoiding the draft, about going to Canada, going to jail, being a conscientious objector, going into the National Guard," Kerry told Fox News recently. "Those are choices people make."
Caplan said that Dartmouth as a whole was largely divided on the issue of the Vietnam War during his time. On the one hand, Larry Adelman '73, the author of the article, was a "rabid peace activist who would wear anti-war armbands to class." On the pro-war side, the group Students Behind Dartmouth was formed in 1968 to counterbalance liberal activists.
Although the College was split roughly 50-50 on the issue of the war, Caplan said that the campus never approached experiencing riots on the scale of those that paralyzed Columbia University in 1968.
"Dartmouth didn't do that because it had more of a conservative student body and alumni, and it was in an isolated location and easier to contain," Caplan said.
In his 1972 speech, Kerry lashed at then-President Richard Nixon, claiming that he was personally responsible for over 130,000 Vietnam casualties a month, although Kerry also predicted reelection. He also criticized Nixon for trying to request the return of prisoners of war before the war ended. Ironically, Kerry has worked with Arizona Sen. John McCain on lingering Vietnam POW/MIA issues during their time in the Senate.
Kerry had vaulted into the national spotlight after testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations committee in 1971, where he famously asked, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" This quote was featured in the upper right corner of The Dartmouth, where editors would normally place humorous one-liners, according to Caplan.
The Kerry campaign declined to comment Thursday.
<http://www.thedartmouth.com/article.php?aid=2004030501040> *****
"John Kerry Then: Hear Kerry's Historic 1971 Testimony Against the Vietnam War," February 20, 2004: <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/20/1535232>. -- Yoshie
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