There have been many antiwar movements in America, but the protest that surfaced in response to the Vietnam War was unique. It started small and grew steadily, feeding on the energy and idealism of the young, the experience of the old, and the notoriety it gained through the media. It was inspired by the music of the time, which was in turn inspired by the movement itself. The anti-war effort was also torn by internal divisions, as groups within the movement clashed over goals, and whether the campaign to end the Vietnam War should also include a campaign to change American society. In the end, those disputes may have hampered the movement's efforts to complete its mission, ending it before the war itself came to an end.

The first public stirrings of the Vietnam antiwar movement gained national attention in the spring of 1965, when about 10,000 protesters...