Word: public
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Forty-seven percent of the public would follow a prearranged withdrawal timetable, even if the Saigon government were to collapse as a result; only 38% would alter the schedule to save the Thieu regime. Among leaders, the commitment is even firmer: 56% opted to pull out in the face of a government disaster; only 31% agreed to stay...
Thirty-six percent of the public and 32% of the leaders favored immediate, total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Viet Nam. Of several hypothetical situations that might justify an immediate U.S. pullout, only a seizure of the Vietnamese government by hard-line generals determined to fight indefinitely found a majority willing to back an instant U.S. withdrawal...
...their leaders favored phased withdrawals. "It's too late to suddenly just drop it," said Mrs. James A. Deines of Bird City, Kans. "The only alternative we've got left is to end it as honorably and as quickly as possible." Sixty-one percent of the public and 58% of the leaders believed that an American pull-out should be timed according to increasing South Vietnamese strength - though patience with the Vietnamization effort is strictly limited...
...poll makes clear, Nixon could buy more time and support for his program of troop withdrawal by turning the fighting over to volunteers. Fifty-two percent of the public favored a voluntary force for Viet Nam; 46% of the leaders were willing to go along. Most would be willing to leave a volunteer army in Viet Nam for another year...
Although few people seem to be thinking in terms of a specific time limit for an end to U.S. involvement in Viet Nam, well under a majority of either the public or the leaders were willing to let the President maintain existing troop strength for more than a year. No more than 23% of the public and 18% of the leaders agreed to leave troops at the present 500,000 level for more than a year, although 10% were willing to keep them there for as long as five years. Nor are many more willing to tolerate what is reported...