The American New Left, Cold War Liberals and the Vietnam War

In this episode of Explaining History, Nick explores the emergence of the "New Left" in 1960s America—a movement born from the failure of Cold War liberalism to deliver on its promises.

Drawing on Kim McQuaid’s The Anxious Years, we delve into the deep disillusionment that fuelled student radicalism. Why did young activists view "vital centre" liberals like JFK and LBJ not as allies, but as "closet right-wingers" trapped in an imperialist mindset? We examine the "bipartisan banality" of the era, where fear of being labelled "soft on communism" drove Democrats to escalate wars in Vietna...