Cooper-Church Amendment

Nicholas M. Johnson
University Of Kentucky

The majority of the population was for the Cooper-Church Amendment

but many of those that were for it did not have the right intentions of the bill.
A portion of those for the Amendment were just using it in order to send
loved ones home and get back their family that was taken away because of
the war. Because of this they were not thinking about the repercussions that
ending the war would have and how important it was to stay overseas. The
other portion of those who supported the Amendment made valid points
about the fact that the poverty is so bad in America, let alone Kentucky, that
we should focus on our homeland rather than others. In the papers the
viewpoints that were for the Amendment were either positive in the fact that
they thought about others, or that they were selfish and only wanted it to
pass so they would get their loved ones back.

There were many families in Kentucky that had been very

involved with their say on what should happen with the Cooper-Church
Amendment. Some families had family members and friends that were
directly involved with the Vietnam War, so their voices were the most
prevalent in the texts that were analyzed. These people had very valid
reasons for supporting the side they were on, but in some cases it was
as if their ties with the war skewed the views of wither what was right
or wrong. In the letter from Mrs. John Videtto to senator John Sherman
Cooper she states that, It has been four months today since our dear
son has set foot on Vietnam, an eternity! I could never feel it was for
patriotism if he were lost, and I could never forgive the President or
Congress for this senseless slaughter. Many of the Americans living in
Kentucky had children who were sent overseas to Cambodia for the
war. Based on the fact that the war in Vietnam was us as a country
stepping in between two North and South Vietnam, as America was
never actually attacked by the Vietcong, many people did not believe
that this was a war we should be involved in. Because the fact that
many thought we should not be involved, and when you take their
children away for a cause they already dont believe in wholeheartedly,
people oppose the war even more. In the letter from Mrs. Videtto, she
also states that Mr. Nixon may consider us as a part of his silent
majority just because we do not support anarchy, but we are not
puppets either. If we cannot work through our congressman what are

we to do? If all the men in Congress and President Nixon had sons in
the combat infantry, you can bet your life we would have ended the
war a long time ago! This excerpt describes that the fact that if
someone has friends or family in Vietnam, they are more inclined to
want the congressman to pass the Cooper-Church Amendment in order
to get their loved one out of the situation. Because of the fact that,
they are more inclined to support the Amendment just to get their
loved one back. It is clearly shown that some of those for the
Amendment are doing it for themselves rather than the good of the
Country, or the good of the Vietnamese citizens.
A big reason for residents of Kentucky being for the end of the
war and the passing of the Cooper-Church Amendment is the fact that
billions are being spent on fighting Indochina, yet poverty is still a very
real problem in Kentucky, and America for that matter. During the end
of the Vietnam War in 1975 the number of people in America under the
poverty line was 25,877 people. The poverty rate of Kentucky during
this time was 26 percent of the population which is a large number
when compared to the rest of the country. For many Kentuckians, the
war on poverty during Linden B. Johnsons administration was over and
this meant very little jobs for those who were lacking the educational
means to work a high paying career. Many people were forced to take
government subsidized handouts which were very minimal consisting
of things such as bread and cheese. In a letter from Mrs. Caroe Verser

she states that, How many more lives and how many more billions of
dollars must be spent in Indochina, while domestic needs crucial to the
stability and advance for public life are unmet? She makes a valid
point that the country should stop worrying about other nations and
start using the resources we have at our fingertips in order to fix
ourselves first, before going and trying to fix other nations. She also
states that It is time for a re-evaluation of our priorities. History has
shown the failure of involvement in such wars. She refers to the fact
that in the past during times of war America itself has had people
struggle worse off than they already were because of the need for
more money that war demands. If we would just learn from our
mistakes and stop focusing on other countries we would have it much
better off within our own country. She is a perfect example of the kind
of people who are for the Cooper-Church Amendment in the right way,
and not using the Amendment in a selfish way.
Others in Kentucky viewed the Amendment as a way to diffuse
the tensions and radicalistic protests that were taking place. In a letter
to the senator from
Brenda P. France she states that There are many silent people in
this country who are revolted and becoming increasingly angry with
radical attempts to overthrow the U.S government by criminal acts of
violence such as arson, assault upon public servants and publicly
humiliating the American Flag. She brings in a new viewpoint into

those who are for the Cooper-Church Amendment, which is that she
wants the Amendment to pass so that the violent protests cease. This
was a very prevalent idea at the time because of the fact that the Kent
State shootings had just happened before this leaving four students
dead and wounding nine others. Protests then became a very violent
and tense thing to do but even though this was a thing, many protests
were still popping up everywhere. There were even protests here on
the University of Kentucky campus during this time, during one protest
the ROTC building was burned down by a Molotov cocktail. In the
Lexington Herald on 5/6/70 the incident was reported as follows. A
fire, believed to be started by a molotov cocktail, destroyed the old Air
Force ROTC building after a day marked by tenseness on the UK
campus. Things like this were very common occurrences and a very
good reason to end the war for some people who were afraid that the
protests were going to tear the nation apart.
Overall there were many people that were for the CooperChurch Amendment, but in reality there were only a certain group of
people who were for it, for the right reasons. Of the reasons those that
were proactive and helpful were those that wanted to end the war to
fix the poverty in Kentucky, and in order to diffuse the violent protests.
Of those that were seemingly selfish were those who wanted to end
the war because they wanted to bring family and loved ones home
which seemed very selfish. Because of these many viewpoints, even

though there were many people that were seemingly on the same side
had many different tiers and reasons why they were on the same side.

Bibliography/Citations

John Sherman Cooper Papers, 80M1, Special Collections, University of Kentucky

Libraries, Lexington, boxes 456-461.