c onclusion 345did his best to avoid frank discussion of subjects that might alienate
significant constituencies, such as the reality of postwar Soviet
hegemony in Eastern Europe.
Wars in which the fate of the nation does not hang in the balance
present a greater domestic political challenge to a president. Because of
the brief duration of American involvement in the First World War and
the relatively modest casualties incurred, Wilson did not face the diffi -
culty of dealing with a war-weary public as did the heads of other
nations. But he did suff er from self-infl icted political wounds, especially
through a highly partisan approach that backfi red and helped cost his
party control of Congress. Th e most serious challenges in retaining
public support arise in protracted limited wars. Johnson and Bush both
discovered that a decision not to mobilize the nation for war becomes a
double-edged sword. Although most citizens are not directly discom-
fi ted, especially in the absence of a draft, they also do not feel they have
a direct stake in the outcome. As public support erodes, presidents then
tend to resort to overheated rhetoric, likening a limited confl ict to an
existential one. Bush in particular fell back on alarmist warnings about
how retreat from Iraq would invite future 9/11-style attacks in the
United States. Apart from among core supporters, though, the language
wears thin over time, as a growing percentage of the public wonders
why, if so much is at stake, Americans have not been asked to make
sacrifi ces.
In a number of wars, presidents have faced vocal opposition that
they have treated as unpatriotic. Th eir reaction is understandable. From
the perspective of a wartime president and his civilian and military
advisors, antiwar critics encourage the enemy to resist. Th is view has
some foundation. In modern “war amongst the people,” the “people”
include the external power’s domestic audience, whose morale is one
key target for insurgents. Th us, during the Vietnam War, Hanoi’s diplo-
mats encouraged dissent in the United States and cultivated ties with
leading antiwar activists and journalists seen as critical of American
policy. But antiwar opposition also serves the essential purpose of
calling attention to a war policy that is failing and forces a president to
respond. Protests against the Vietnam War gained traction in the
political mainstream because it became evident that Johnson’s approach
had produced nothing better than a stalemate; later, Nixon’s decision to