Presidents and Labor: George Meany and the Vietnam War
George Meany was an American labor union leader who was the key figure in the creation of the AFL-CIO and served as the AFL-CIO's first president, from 1955 to 1979. Meany had been the son of a union plumber, and became a plumber himself in his youth. He became a full-time union official 12 years later and was active as a labor leader for over half a century. As an officer of the American Federation of Labor, he represented the American Federation of Labor (AFL) on the National War Labor Board during World War II and he served as president of the AFL from 1952 to 1955. Meany proposed that the AFL merge with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in 1952 and led the negotiations until the merger was completed in 1955. He then served as president of the merged AFL-CIO for the next 24 years. The merger was opposed by many of the leading labor leaders of the day, including John L. Lewis and Jimmy Hoffa. Meany had a reputation for integrity and he fought against corruption in the labor movement. He was especially opposed to communism within the labor movement.
The Vietnam War was one issue which caused division among organized labor. In the late 1960s almost all labor organizations supported the Democratic Party and Meany was no exception. He consistently defended President Lyndon B. Johnson's Vietnam War policies even after the war began to go badly for the beleaguered president. Not all labor leaders supported the war. For example, United Auto Workers President Walter Reuther continued to support Johnson for a time, but was opposed to US involvement in the war. Meany was critical of Reuther and labor leaders who called for the US to withdraw its military forces from Vietnam. The matter came to a head within the union in 1966 when Meany insisted for AFL-CIO unions to give "unqualified support" to Johnson's war policy. This was met with opposition from a number of AFL-CIO leaders, including Ralph Helstein of the United Packinghouse Workers of America, George Burdon of the United Rubberworkers and Patrick Gorman of the United Auto Workers.
In 1967, Charles Cogen, president of the American Federation of Teachers opposed Meany at the AFL-CIO convention, when the convention adopted a resolution pledging support for the war in Vietnam. Walter Reuther avoided attending the convention, claiming that he was too busy with negotiations with General Motors in Detroit. Meany addressed the convention and said that, in Vietnam the AFL-CIO was "neither hawk nor dove nor chicken". He framed the issue as being one of supporting "brother trade unionists" struggling against Communism.
Meany considered himself to be an anticommunist who was on the side of the working class. He had an intense dislike for leftists and staunchly defended the labor movement when criticized by such groups for conservatism, racism, and anticommunism. After the violence by antiwar demonstrators and police that occurred at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Meany supported the actions of the Chicago police. He called the protesters a "dirty-necked and dirty-mouthed group of kooks."
Though normally a Democrat, in 1972 Meany found that he could not bring himself to support the antiwar candidacy of Senator George McGovern for the presidency against incumbent Richard Nixon in 1972 despite McGovern's generally pro-labor voting record in Congress. He would not go so far as to endorse Nixon however. In an appearance on the CBS TV show Face the Nation in September 1972, Meany was openly critical of McGovern. He disagreed with McGovern's statement that the US should respect other peoples' rights to choose communism. Meany said that there never was any country that had freely voted for communism and he called McGovern "an apologist for the Communist world." When Nixon won the election in a landslide, Meany said that he saw this as voters "overwhelmingly repudiating neo-isolationism". He observed that many voters had split their votes by supporting the Democrats in Congress.
Meany contributed to support the war effort right up to the end of the war. When Saigon fell to the North Vietnam in April, 1975, he called on President Gerald Ford to provide a US Navy "flotilla" to ensure that hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese, or "friends of the United States" as he called them, could escape before the communist regime took over. He also advocated for the admission of as many Vietnamese refugees as possible to the United States. Meany blamed Congress for "washing its hands" of the war and for failing to provide adequate funding for US troops to stage an orderly withdrawal.
Meany disagreed with Reuther and other labor leaders on other issues, including on civil rights. In 1963, Meany disagreed with Reuther about the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Meany opposed AFL-CIO endorsement of the march. He later softened his stance after hearing a speech given by A. Philip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Meany later supported the creation of the A. Philip Randolph Institute to strengthen labor unions within the African American community.
Meany remained active in union leadership past his 80th birthday, by which time there were increasing calls for him to retire and pass the torch of the union's leadership on to someone younger. Eugenia Meany, His wife of 59 years, died in March 1979, and he became depressed after losing her. In November 1979, he retired from the AFL-CIO, after a 57-year career as a labor leader. He was succeeded by Lane Kirkland, who served as AFL-CIO president for the next 16 years. George Meany died at George Washington University Hospital on January 10, 1980 at the age of 85, from cardiac arrest. President Jimmy Carter called him "an American institution" and "a patriot."
The Vietnam War was one issue which caused division among organized labor. In the late 1960s almost all labor organizations supported the Democratic Party and Meany was no exception. He consistently defended President Lyndon B. Johnson's Vietnam War policies even after the war began to go badly for the beleaguered president. Not all labor leaders supported the war. For example, United Auto Workers President Walter Reuther continued to support Johnson for a time, but was opposed to US involvement in the war. Meany was critical of Reuther and labor leaders who called for the US to withdraw its military forces from Vietnam. The matter came to a head within the union in 1966 when Meany insisted for AFL-CIO unions to give "unqualified support" to Johnson's war policy. This was met with opposition from a number of AFL-CIO leaders, including Ralph Helstein of the United Packinghouse Workers of America, George Burdon of the United Rubberworkers and Patrick Gorman of the United Auto Workers.
In 1967, Charles Cogen, president of the American Federation of Teachers opposed Meany at the AFL-CIO convention, when the convention adopted a resolution pledging support for the war in Vietnam. Walter Reuther avoided attending the convention, claiming that he was too busy with negotiations with General Motors in Detroit. Meany addressed the convention and said that, in Vietnam the AFL-CIO was "neither hawk nor dove nor chicken". He framed the issue as being one of supporting "brother trade unionists" struggling against Communism.
Meany considered himself to be an anticommunist who was on the side of the working class. He had an intense dislike for leftists and staunchly defended the labor movement when criticized by such groups for conservatism, racism, and anticommunism. After the violence by antiwar demonstrators and police that occurred at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Meany supported the actions of the Chicago police. He called the protesters a "dirty-necked and dirty-mouthed group of kooks."
Though normally a Democrat, in 1972 Meany found that he could not bring himself to support the antiwar candidacy of Senator George McGovern for the presidency against incumbent Richard Nixon in 1972 despite McGovern's generally pro-labor voting record in Congress. He would not go so far as to endorse Nixon however. In an appearance on the CBS TV show Face the Nation in September 1972, Meany was openly critical of McGovern. He disagreed with McGovern's statement that the US should respect other peoples' rights to choose communism. Meany said that there never was any country that had freely voted for communism and he called McGovern "an apologist for the Communist world." When Nixon won the election in a landslide, Meany said that he saw this as voters "overwhelmingly repudiating neo-isolationism". He observed that many voters had split their votes by supporting the Democrats in Congress.
Meany contributed to support the war effort right up to the end of the war. When Saigon fell to the North Vietnam in April, 1975, he called on President Gerald Ford to provide a US Navy "flotilla" to ensure that hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese, or "friends of the United States" as he called them, could escape before the communist regime took over. He also advocated for the admission of as many Vietnamese refugees as possible to the United States. Meany blamed Congress for "washing its hands" of the war and for failing to provide adequate funding for US troops to stage an orderly withdrawal.
Meany disagreed with Reuther and other labor leaders on other issues, including on civil rights. In 1963, Meany disagreed with Reuther about the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Meany opposed AFL-CIO endorsement of the march. He later softened his stance after hearing a speech given by A. Philip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Meany later supported the creation of the A. Philip Randolph Institute to strengthen labor unions within the African American community.
Meany remained active in union leadership past his 80th birthday, by which time there were increasing calls for him to retire and pass the torch of the union's leadership on to someone younger. Eugenia Meany, His wife of 59 years, died in March 1979, and he became depressed after losing her. In November 1979, he retired from the AFL-CIO, after a 57-year career as a labor leader. He was succeeded by Lane Kirkland, who served as AFL-CIO president for the next 16 years. George Meany died at George Washington University Hospital on January 10, 1980 at the age of 85, from cardiac arrest. President Jimmy Carter called him "an American institution" and "a patriot."