Editing Benjamin Spock (section)

==Social and political activism==
In 1962, Spock joined [[Peace Action|The Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, otherwise known as SANE]]. Spock was politically outspoken and active in the movement to end the [[Vietnam War]]. In 1968, he and four others (including [[William Sloane Coffin]], [[Marcus Raskin]], [[Mitchell Goodman]], and [[Michael Ferber]]) were singled out for prosecution by then Attorney General [[Ramsey Clark]] on charges of conspiracy to counsel, aid, and abet resistance to the draft.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ecojustice.net/Coffin/Index.htm|title=Once to Every Man and Nation|author=The William Sloane Coffin, Jr. Project Committee|access-date=October 23, 2019}}</ref> Spock and three of his alleged co-conspirators were convicted, although the five had never been in the same room together. His two-year prison sentence was never served; the case was appealed, and in 1969 a federal court set aside his conviction.<ref>See [https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/416/165/401712/ ''United States v. Spock'', 416 F.2d 165 (1st Cir. 1969)].</ref>

In 1967, Spock was pressed to run as [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]'s vice-presidential running mate at the [[National Conference for New Politics]] over Labor Day weekend in Chicago.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/376595695|date=August 27, 1967|title='New Politics' Convention to Open Here|author=Manly, Chesly|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref> In April of that year, Spock helped lead the largest anti-war protest to date, the [[National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam|Spring Mobilization Against the War]]. Spock wore a suit and held a sign that read "Children are not born to burn."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Perlstein |first=Rick |url=http://archive.org/details/nixonlandriseofp0000perl |title=Nixonland : the rise of a president and the fracturing of America |date=2008 |publisher=New York : Scribner |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-7432-4302-5 |pages=182}}</ref>

In 1968, Spock signed the "[[Writers and Editors War Tax Protest]]" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War,<ref>"Writers and Editors War Tax Protest". ''New York Post''. January 30, 1968.</ref> and he later became a sponsor of the War Tax Resistance project, which practiced and advocated [[tax resistance]] as a form of anti-war protest.<ref>"A Call to War Tax Resistance" ''The Cycle'' May 14, 1970, p.&nbsp;7.</ref> He was also arrested for his involvement in anti-war protests resulting from his signing of the anti-war manifesto "A Call to Resist Illegitimate Authority" circulated by members of the radical intellectual collective [[RESIST (non-profit)|RESIST]].<ref>Barsky, Robert F. Noam Chomsky: a life of dissent. 1st ed. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press, 1998. Web. {{cite web|url=http://cognet.mit.edu/library/books/chomsky/chomsky/4/5.html|title=Marching with the Armies of the Night|access-date=June 24, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116133359/http://cognet.mit.edu/library/books/chomsky/chomsky/4/5.html|archive-date=January 16, 2013}}></ref> The individuals arrested during this incident came to be known as the Boston Five.<ref>Kutik, William M,. "[https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1968/1/8/boston-grand-jury-indicts-five-for/ Boston Grand Jury Indicts Five For Working Against Draft Law]". ''Harvard Crimson''. January 8, 1968.</ref>

In 1968, the [[American Humanist Association]] named Spock [[Humanist of the Year]].<ref name=AHA>{{cite web|title=Humanists of the Year|url=https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/humanist-of-the-year-awards/|work=American Humanist Association|access-date=October 24, 2019}}</ref> On 15 October 1969, Spock was a featured speaker at the [[Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam]] march.<ref>Karnow, Stanley ''Vietnam: A History'', New York: Viking Press, 1983 p.&nbsp;599.</ref>

In 1970, Dr. Benjamin Spock was active in The New Party serving as Honorary co-chairman with Gore Vidal. In the [[1972 United States presidential election]], Spock was the [[People's Party (United States, 1970s)|People's Party]] candidate with a platform that called for free medical care; the repeal of "[[Victimless crime (political philosophy)|victimless crime]]" laws, including the legalization of [[abortion]], [[homosexuality]], and [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]]; a [[guaranteed minimum income]] for families; and for an end to American [[Interventionism (politics)|military interventionism]] and the immediate withdrawal of all American troops from foreign countries.<ref>{{cite news|title=8 Unusual Presidential Candidates|url=https://www.history.com/news/8-unusual-presidential-candidates|publisher=History Channel|date=March 22, 2016|access-date=October 24, 2019}}</ref> In the 1970s and 1980s, Spock demonstrated and gave lectures against nuclear weapons and cuts in social welfare programs.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}

In 1972, Spock, [[Julius Hobson]] (his vice presidential candidate), [[Linda Jenness]] (Socialist Workers Party presidential candidate), and Socialist Workers Party vice presidential candidate [[Andrew Pulley]] wrote to Major General Bert A. David, commanding officer of Fort Dix, asking for permission to distribute campaign literature and to hold an election-related campaign meeting. On the basis of Fort Dix regulations 210-26 and 210–27, General David refused the request. Spock, Hobson, Jenness, Pulley, and others then filed a case that ultimately made its way to the United States Supreme Court (424 U.S. 828—''Greer, Commander, Fort Dix Military Reservation, et al., v. Spock et al.''), which ruled against the [[plaintiff]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/424/828/|title=Greer v. Spock 424 U.S. 828 (1976)|website=[[Justia]]|access-date=October 24, 2019}}</ref>

Spock was the People's Party and the [[Peace and Freedom Party]] nominee in 1976 for vice president as the running mate of [[Margaret Wright (American politician)|Margaret Wright]].<ref>"Radical Launches Bid", AP report in ''Scranton (PA) Times-Tribune'', August 7, 1976, p. 1</ref>

===Conservative backlash===
Preacher [[Norman Vincent Peale]] supported the [[Vietnam War]] and, in the late 1960s, criticized the [[Opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War|anti-war movement]] and the perceived laxity of that era, blaming Dr. Spock's books: "The U.S. was paying the price of two generations that followed the Dr. Spock baby plan of instant gratification of needs."<ref>{{cite book|title=LIFE 100 People Who Changed the World|year=2016|publisher=Time Inc. Books|isbn=9781618934710}}</ref>

In the 1960s and 1970s, Spock was also blamed for the disorderliness of young people, many of whose parents had been devotees of ''Baby and Child Care''.<ref name=nyt/> Vice President [[Spiro Agnew]] also blamed Spock for "permissiveness".<ref name=nyt/><ref>[http://www.thomasmaierbooks.com/2008/07/permissiveness-not-dr-spock-says-widow.html Permissiveness? Not Dr. Spock, Says Widow, Rejecting Label from Nixon's VP, Spiro Agnew. Spock So-So On Spanking, But He Wasn't a Crook!] Thomas Maire author of ''Dr. Spock An American Life'' July 16, 2008.</ref> These allegations were enthusiastically embraced by conservative adults, who viewed the rebellious youth of that era with disapproval, referring to them as "the Spock generation".<ref name=NewYorkTimesbio/><ref name=NewsHour>{{cite episode|title=Remembering Dr. Spock|series=The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer|series-link=The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer|network=[[PBS]]|airdate=March 16, 1998}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TTQ_AAAAIBAJ&pg=3694,268355|title=Spock Generation Not all bad|agency=[[Associated Press]]|work=Windsor Star|date=October 7, 1968|via=[[Google News]]}}</ref>

Spock's supporters countered that these criticisms betrayed an ignorance of what Spock had actually written, and/or a political bias against Spock's left-wing political activities. Spock himself, in his autobiography, said he had never advocated permissiveness; also, the attacks and claims that he had ruined American youth only arose after his public opposition to the Vietnam War. He regarded these claims as [[ad hominem]] attacks, whose political motivation and nature were clear.<ref name=NewYorkTimesbio>{{cite news|work=The New York Times|title=Dr. Spock, At 80, Still Giving Advice|author=Reed, Roy|date=May 2, 1983|page=A12}}</ref><ref name=NewsHour/>

Spock addressed these accusations in the first chapter of his 1994 book, ''Rebuilding American Family Values: A Better World for Our Children.''
{{blockquote|The Permissive Label: A couple weeks after my indictment [for "conspiracy to counsel, aid and abet resistance to the military draft"], I was accused by Reverend Norman Vincent Peale, a well-known clergyman and author who supported the Vietnam War, of corrupting an entire generation. In a sermon widely reported in the press, Reverend Peale blamed ''me'' for all the lack of patriotism, lack of responsibility, and lack of discipline of the young people who opposed the war. All these failings, he said, were due to my having told their parents to give them "instant gratification" as babies. I was showered with blame in dozens of editorials and columns from primarily conservative newspapers all over the country heartily agreeing with Peale's assertions.

Many parents have since stopped me on the street or in airports to thank me for helping them to raise fine children, and they've often added, "I don't see any instant gratification in ''Baby and Child Care''". I say they're right—I've always advised parents to give their children firm, clear leadership and to ask for cooperation and politeness in return. On the other hand, I've also received letters from conservative mothers saying, in effect, "Thank God I've never used your horrible book. That's why my children take baths, wear clean clothes and get good grades."

Since I received the first accusation 22 years after ''Baby and Child Care'' was originally published—and since those who write about how harmful my book is invariably assure me they've never used it—I think it's clear that the hostility is to my politics rather than my pediatric advice. And though I've been denying the accusation for 25 years, one of the first questions I get from many reporters and interviewers is, "Dr. Spock, are you still permissive?" You can't catch up with a false accusation.
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In June 1992, Spock told Associated Press journalist [[David Beard (journalist)|David Beard]]<ref name=invapav/> there was a link between pediatrics and political activism: {{blockquote|People have said, "You've turned your back on pediatrics." I said, "No. It took me until I was in my 60s to realize that politics was a part of pediatrics."<ref name=invapav>{{cite news|date=June 7, 1992|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-06-07-mn-171-story.html|author=Beard, David|title=Dr. Spock Still Active, Writing New Baby Book|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Second Wind: Navigating the Passage to a Slower, Deeper, and More Connected Life|author=William H. Thomas|page=[https://archive.org/details/secondwindnaviga0000thom/page/21 21]|publisher=Simon & Schuster|date=March 11, 2014|isbn=9781451667578|url=https://archive.org/details/secondwindnaviga0000thom/page/21}}</ref>}}

Conservatives also criticized Spock for being interested in the ideas of [[Sigmund Freud]] and [[John Dewey]] and his efforts to integrate their philosophies into the general population.<ref name=nyt/> Spock wrote: {{blockquote|John Dewey and Freud said that kids don't have to be disciplined into adulthood but can direct themselves toward adulthood by following their own will.<ref name=nyt/>}}