Editing George McGovern (section)

===Opposition to Vietnam War===
[[File:George McGovern Vietnam trip Nov 1965.jpg|thumb|right|Senator McGovern on his first trip to [[South Vietnam]], November 1965]]
In a speech on the Senate floor in September 1963, McGovern became the first member to challenge the [[Role of the United States in the Vietnam War#Under the Kennedy Administration|growing U.S.&nbsp;military involvement in Vietnam]].<ref name="anson-150"/><ref name="weil-16">Weil, ''The Long Shot'', pp. 16–17.</ref> Bothered by the [[Buddhist crisis]] and other recent developments, and with concerns influenced by Vietnam historian [[Bernard Fall]], McGovern said:
{{cquote|The current dilemma in Vietnam is a clear demonstration of the limitations of military power&nbsp;... [Current U.S. involvement] is a policy of moral debacle and political defeat&nbsp;... The trap we have fallen into there will haunt us in every corner of this revolutionary world if we do not properly appraise its lessons.<ref name="nyt-record"/><ref name="anson-150">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 149–151.</ref>}}

As the speech was little noticed, McGovern backed away from saying anything publicly for over a year afterward, partly because of the November 1963 [[assassination of President Kennedy]] and partly to not appear strident.<ref name="anson-152">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 152–154.</ref> Though more skeptical about it than most senators,<ref name="mann-366">Mann, ''A Grand Delusion'', pp. 357, 366–368.</ref> McGovern voted in favor of the August 1964 [[Gulf of Tonkin Resolution]], which turned out to be an essentially unbounded authorization for President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] to escalate U.S. involvement in the war.<ref name="nyt-record"/> McGovern thought the commander in chief should be given limited authority to retaliate against an attack;<ref name="weil-16"/> subsequently, he said his instinct had been to vote no, but that he had voted yes because of Senator [[J. William Fulbright]]'s urging to stand behind Johnson politically.<ref name="anson-152"/><ref name="mann-366"/> The day after the resolution vote, McGovern spoke concerning his fears that the vote would lead to greater involvement in the war;<ref name="nyt-record"/> [[Wayne Morse]], one of only two senators to oppose the resolution, sardonically noted that this fell into the category of "very interesting, but very belated."<ref name="anson-152"/> This would become the vote that McGovern most bitterly regretted.<ref name="weil-16"/><ref name="mann-366"/>

In January 1965 McGovern made his first major address on Vietnam, saying that "We are not winning in South Vietnam&nbsp;... I am very much opposed to the policy, now gaining support in Washington, of extending the war to the north."<ref name="cby-267"/><ref name="anson-155">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 154–157.</ref> McGovern instead proposed a five-point plan advocating a negotiated settlement involving a federated Vietnam with local autonomy and a UN&nbsp;presence to guarantee security and fair treatment.<ref name="anson-155"/> The speech gave McGovern national visibility as one of the "doves" in the debate over Vietnam;<ref name="anson-155"/><ref name="knock-cha-105">Knock, "Come Home America", pp. 104–105.</ref> however, McGovern made moderate-to-hawkish statements at times too, flatly rejecting unconditional withdrawal of U.S.&nbsp;forces and criticizing [[Opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War|antiwar]] [[draft-card burning]]s as "immature, impractical, and illegal".<ref name="anson-160"/> He eschewed personal criticism of Johnson.<ref name="knock-cha-105"/> In November 1965 McGovern traveled to South Vietnam for three weeks.<ref name="mann-486">Mann, ''A Grand Delusion'', p. 486.</ref> The human carnage he saw in hospital wards deeply upset him, and he became increasingly outspoken about the war upon his return, more convinced than ever that Vietnam was a political, not military, problem.<ref name="nyt-record"/><ref name="cby-267"/><ref name="anson-160">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 160–164.</ref> Now he was ready, as he later said, "not merely to dissent, but to crusade" against the war.<ref name="mann-486"/>

McGovern voted in favor of Vietnam military appropriations in 1966 through 1968, not wanting to deprive U.S. forces of necessary equipment.<ref name="anson-160"/> Nevertheless, his antiwar rhetoric increased throughout 1967.<ref name="anson-165">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 165–166.</ref> Over the years, Johnson had invited McGovern and other Senate doves to the [[White House]] for attempts to explain the rationale for his actions in Vietnam; McGovern came away from the final such visit, in August 1967, shaken by the sight of a president "tortured and confused&nbsp;... by the mess he has gotten into in Vietnam."<ref name="anson-165"/>