Title: Campaign for a Democratic Foreign Policy Records
Inclusive Dates: 1975-1978

Creator:

• Campaign for a Democratic Foreign Policy

Call Number: Mss 490

Quantity: 0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Records of Campaign for a Democratic Foreign Policy, a successor organization (1975-1977) to the Indochina Peace Campaign, which attempted to carry opposition to the war in South Vietnam into a broader, peacetime perspective. Included are organizational papers and notes, correspondence, minutes, and publications of the national steering committee. There are also papers pertaining to Citizens' Action '76, a series of forums aimed at diverting funds from the military budget to domestic social programs, and papers relating to the 1976 national meeting at which the group disbanded to form coalitions with other organizations with which CDFP had formerly cooperated such as the Coalition for a New Foreign and Military Policy. Three local chapters are represented by a small group of correspondence, reports, and printed matter.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00490

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

With the end of U.S. financial support of South Vietnam, the Indochina Peace Campaign, one of the major opponents to the war, dissolved in July 1975 and formed two new groups: the Friends of Indochina (FI) and the Campaign for a Democratic Foreign Policy (CDFP). CDFP was founded to carry the momentum of the public opposition to the war into broader perspective. In foreign policy, the group hoped to limit U.S. military intervention and to prevent international corporate expansion. On the domestic front, the organization's goals were to cut the military budget and to transfer these expenditures to domestic social programs. Patterning itself after the successful strategy of the IPC, the Campaign for a Democratic Foreign Policy hoped to accomplish its goals by organizing and educating a broad-based movement and by exerting legislative pressure. The Campaign for a Democratic Foreign Policy was structured on three levels. A national office located in Washington, D.C., coordinated the local chapters and regional offices. National meetings composed of delegates from the chapters were held annually and these constituted the highest policy-making authority. The real working body, however, was the national steering committee, which was composed of delegates from each region and from the national office and which met three or four times per year.

The first target of organizing activity was the U.S. military presence in South Korea, but when this issue failed to arouse public support, CDFP turned to mobilizing local coalitions that shared its views. One aspect of this cooperation was Citizens Action '76, a series of hearings on foreign policy and domestic spending in which CDFP cooperated with the Council on National Priorities and Resources, the Coalition for a New Foreign and Military Policy (CNFMP), and other groups.

From its founding, CDFP suffered from financial difficulties and low membership. When it became clear that other political action groups such as CNFMP were experiencing greater success, CDFP voted to disband in August 1977 in order to avoid competition. This decision was made at the December 1976 national meeting at Mt. Pocono, Pennsylvania. At the same time it was decided to spend CDFP's last months in organizing at the grass-roots level. Thus after the CDFP ended as a national organization, three of its regional offices continued activity by merging with other local groups: the Boston office became the Massachusetts Coalition for New National Priorities, the Chicago chapter became the Campaign for the Transfer Amendment, and the Cleveland Chapter became the Northern Ohio Project on National Priorities.

The records of CDFP consist of correspondence, memoranda, minutes, policy statements, and newsletters, handouts, and other publications. The bulk of the collection relates to the national organization, principally the national office, the steering committee, and the national meeting which voted to disband in December 1976. A small quantity of material pertains to three local chapters.

Of the National Records, the correspondence and notes of the steering committee are perhaps the most notable. This section includes lengthy, detailed letters from the national staff to members of the committee, minutes of meetings, and drafts and final copies of several policy statements. Taken together, they provide excellent coverage of the evolution of the group's goals and strategy from formation to the decision to disband. There are some gaps in the papers, however. No material relates to the change in focus from opposition to U.S. involvement in Asian affairs to building domestic coalitions. In addition, there is little information on two successes in the legislative area: the human rights amendment and the resolution on Angola. There is, however, a substantial folder on the organizing for Citizens' Action '76. The correspondence is supplemented by a nearly complete file of newsletters; a scrapbook of CDFP activities and publications, 1976-1977; and additional leaflets and miscellaneous publications.

Chapter Records, 1975-1977, consists of correspondence, reports, and printed matter issued by the Chicago, Boston, and Cleveland offices which were received in the Washington, D.C., headquarters.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Campaign for a Democratic Foreign Policy via Katie Whelan, Cincinnati, Ohio, February 27, 1978. Accession Number: M78-77

Processing Information

Processed by Laura A. Guy (Intern) and Carolyn J. Mattern, August 1979.

	National Records
Box   1 Folder   1	Organizational Papers, 1975
	National Steering Committee, Correspondence and Notes
Box   1 Folder   2-3	1975-1976
Box   2 Folder   1	1977-1978
Box   2 Folder   2	National Meeting, Mt. Pocono, 1976
Box   2 Folder   3	Citizens' Action '76, 1975-1976
Box   2 Folder   4-5	CDFP Newsletter, 1975-1976
Box   2 Folder   6	Scrapbook, 1976-1977
Box   2 Folder   7	Miscellaneous Publications, 1975-1976
	Chapter Records
Box   2 Folder   8	Boston, 1976-1977
Box   2 Folder   9	Chicago, 1976-1977
Box   2 Folder   10	Cleveland, 1975-1976