Introduction

In 1969, there was little of consensus on the Vietnam War, and much less the direction of domestic programs. Spiro Agnew and his political advisors would use labels to make an impression of national consensus. While it is not known for sure who originally created the silent majority label for the Nixon administration, speech writers Pat Buchanan and William Safire, helped to make it an integral part of the administration’s 1969 speeches (Leher). These labels would use class conflict between the working class and the more socially liberal middle classes. When considering the silent majority, you should consider both the conflict theorist perspective and the symbolic interaction perspective, to understand how the Nixon administration was so successful using such a label. It could be hypothesized that the silent majority label idea was simple; it was a positive label to apply to working class Americans who had not been labeled negatively unlike the much more radical middle classes and blacks in the southern states for political gain.

Defining the Hypothesis and Test

To fully understand the silent majority label, as used by Nixon, Agnew, and press extensively in 1969, you would have to consider to who and where it was applied historically. For this test to be valid, the independent variable of the silent majority must be a new concept (in a mainstream sense), as of 1969. It would be required to prove the silent majority was a label, temporally used by the Nixon administration for political gain. Initial research shows that giving Nixon or Spiro Agnew credit for the term would be unfair to many that used had it before them. They popularized it making class conflict between these groups the basis for their political power. John F. Kennedy mentions the silent majority in his 1956 book, Profiles of Courage. It is also mentioned in other historical works such as William Manchester’s 1941 book, The Glory and the Dream (Midorikawa). If Nixon or Agnew had only mentioned the silent majority a few times, and the press had generally ignored it, it would have probably not been considered a serious social force. Yet, they did, and the term became so important that in the January 5, 1969 issue of Time magazine, the "man/women of the year" was named "the Middle American." Different names for this label appeared in 1969. Clearly, the silent majority social phenomenon fascinated the nation, even if it was just and example of labels playing off class conflicts.

The dependent variable would be if the silent majority label actually had any political benefit. To test the dependent variable, one would have to find exit poll data from the 1970 congressional election, and use that it to test if the silent majority label encouraged people to vote Republican. Such results would have to consider who was already a Republican, and who was a Democrat.

Defining the Silent Majority

To fully consider the silent majority as the independent variable in the test, one must consider who makes up the silent majority. The ‘silent majority’ is just a label, so it is hard to judge who qualifies to fit under it. While it is not necessarily a label of race, sex, or creed, it is clearly intended to play off the fears and hatreds of different groups. The best source of documentation on the make up of the silent majority is the major news articles published in 1969 that deal with the silent majority, Middle American, white majority, or similar theme. Jim Lehrer’s Spiro Agnew roundtable discussion concludes that it was a label used as a "backslash against anti-war protestors, black power, counterculture and feminism." In more generalized terms, it was a label of all non-deviant Americans who had respect for law and order, and were proud to be Americans. Such terms were clearly design to get votes from the white, working class south and other Sunbelt areas. Time magazine called their groups who "feared that they were beginning to lose their grip on the country", and consisted of the "liberals, the radicals, the defiant young (Middle Americans)." The article later goes on to break down the Middle American as:

"The lower middle class, including blue-collar workers, service employees and farm workers, numbers some 40 million. Many of the nation's 20 million elderly citizens, frequently living on fixed incomes, are Middle American. So is a substantial portion of the 36 million white-collar workers. Although a hard figure is not possible, the total of Middle Americans possibly approaches 100 million, or half the U.S. population (Middle Americans)."

Historical documents and interviews with important political leaders can prove helpful in attesting to the validity of a label at that time (which would be required to ensure the independent variable is valid). In 1996, the George Washington University asked the presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy about the silent majority in an interview. He felt that the silent majority "was kind of a construction, it wasn’t the real stuff." He adds that the reason the silent majority label was so powerful was, "They began to feel sorry for themselves. It worked" (McCarthy). Yet, one must consider McCarthy’s biases when noting his statements on the silent majority. He was a primary candidate in the 1968 presidential race. Miller agrees, suggesting that Nixon’s "appeal to the ‘silent majority,’ was [just] another version of his ‘forgotten Americans,’ who he felt supported his foreign policy."

This lack of consensus on who makes up the silent majority, its variety of definitions and titles, illustrates that is nothing more then a label applied, to make it appear that a large group supports the political leaders in Washington. In the words of Time magazine, the silent majority is "a vast, unorganized fraternity bound together by a roughly similar way of seeing things." In other words, it is not an actual group, but a label that reflects similar ways of viewing the issue.

Further research would be required to explore the composition and existence of the silent majority independent variable, which could itself be narrowed into a study of its own. Census data and political data from 1970 and 1969, respectively, could be helpful to try to piece together who actually fit under the silent majority label. Feelings of hostility between the working class and middle class would need to be considered in more depth for such a study.

Why the Silent Majority Label May Have
Proved to Be Successful For Republican Party

The Nixon-Agnew ticket was in competition for blue-collar southerners, who were largely white. It often suggested a link between blacks and crime, playing on class conflict (which was the bases of the silent majority label), and which may have helped the Republican party politically. On October 6, 1969, Newsweek published an issue devoted to "The Troubled American: A Special Report on the White Majority". This 32 page special on the ‘silent majority’ focused on the middle class Americans, who were white and came from blue or white-collar families. It was noted in the issue, that these people make up "three-fifth of U.S. whites" (Troubled). The bases of this article was both Nixon and Agnew’s mentions of a silent majority, and the September 1969 Gallup poll on the silent majority. Even the Time magazine devoted to the Middle Americans says "few blacks march in the Middle American [group]" (Middle Americans). Blacks were almost always excluded from the silent majority, which may reflect it’s racist connotations. Additionally, Time magazine notes, "black militants…especially anger the white Middle." When blacks started to arm themselves in the late sixties, many whites felt insulted and powerless compared to armed blacks. Fueled by racist hatred, the silent majority feared the radical blacks. Yet, few documents on or about the silent majority openly view the Negro as an inferior race, fears of black militancy played an important part.

Considering the race aspect of the silent majority, one would have to research the demographics and feelings of southerners, after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. A more detailed review of literature from fall of 1969 would also required.

Conclusion

The silent majority did not really exist, but was a label to play off the fears and hatreds of one group to another for political gain, as the hypothesis would test. While the media took it to be a major social phenomenon, there is little evidence to back such a claim. No more than a label, it did not clearly define who should be included in such a group, except for maybe your own supporters. It appears to have been used for the Nixon administration to pretend it had unified support for the war in Vietnam, and win offices in the 1970 congressional elections, by playing off hatreds of race and social class. Racism and stigmas of blacks committing the majority of crime fueled a label, which ultimately existed for one reason, advancing the Nixon administration and Republican Party’s political goals and aspirations. As stated previously, detailed research into the social classes making up the silent majority label and it’s political outcomes would be required for a complete and through analysis of this social phenomenon.

Works Consulted

Lehrer, Jim. Remembering Spiro Agnew. Transcript. (18 Sep 1996) 23 Apr 2002. <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/remember/agnew_9-18.html>

"Man and Women of the Year: The Middle Americans." Time (5 Jan 1970) 23 Apr. 2002 <http://www.imsa.edu/edu/socsci/jvictory/1960s/silent_majority70.html>

McCarthy, Eugene. "Interview with Senator Eugene McCarthy." Interview. George Washington University. (11 Jul 1996) 23 Apr. 2002 <http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-13/mccarthy2.html>