Founded in 1972, the Indochina Peace Campaign (IPC) was one of the few national groups to continue anti-Vietnam War activities after the signing of the peace accords in January 1973. Largely because of its formation in the later stages of the anti-war movement, the IPC emphasized a strategy of broad-based public education rather than the civil disobedience and mass actions which had characterized many earlier coalitions. By interpreting the Vietnam conflict “as the focal point of a worldwide struggle against American imperialism,” IPC also differed from many other groups, some of whom it was originally allied with in the People's Coalition for Peace and Justice, in that it maintained the importance of a single-issue movement. Although the precise origins of IPC are unclear, it is known that it began in Spring 1972 as the Indochina Information Project, a group founded by activists Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda to explore new forms of communication about the war. With the nomination of George McGovern by the Democrats in July 1972, the IIP began to stress an electoral strategy and renamed itself the Indochina Peace Campaign. The focus of IPC activity during the campaign period was a tour by Hayden and Fonda of several key electoral states in support of McGovern's candidacy. Because Fonda had only recently returned from a controversial trip to North Vietnam, this speaking tour attracted large crowds and considerable media attention. After the election IPC determined to continue its educational, political, and protest activities on a more permanent basis.
The Indochina Peace Campaign was headquartered at a national resource center in Los Angeles and coordinated through a network of regional and local groups which met in frequent conferences to determine policy. Throughout its history, IPC found its main strength in California and later in key electoral states in the East.
Some of the notable later activities of IPC were national speaking tours in 1973 and 1974, delegations to Saigon and Hanoi, and participation in the Medical Aid to Indochina project. At IPC's instigation, representatives of several national peace groups met at Germantown, Ohio, on October 26-28, 1973, and agreed to participate in a United Campaign to press for implementation of the peace accords and to work to end financial and military aid to South Vietnam. As part of this program IPC participated in several nationwide activities such as the International Days of Concern and the Tiger Cage demonstrations. The core of their work during this period, however, focused on legislative lobbying, both among state and local officials and among congressman in Washington, D.C.
The Indochina Peace Campaign ceased operation after the withdrawal of U.S. aid to South Vietnam in Autumn 1975. and reformed itself into two groups pledged to carrying its goals into new perspective: the Friends of Indochina and the Campaign for a Democratic Foreign Policy.
