Public opinion was also sampled in 1969. About 70% held that the war was not "a mistake" but was "fundamentally wrong and immoral," a position virtually inexpressible in the mainstream. That persists. Public opinion remained about the same until the most recent polls by the same major polling institution, the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, 30 years later. And the position remained (and remains) virtually inexpressible in the mainstream. Consistent results over 30 years have considerable credibility.
What do the results mean? The director of the study, a respected political scientist, interpreted the results as meaning that respondents felt that too many Americans were being killed. Possible, but not an obvious interpretation. On that assumption, for example, why did the vast majority hold that the war was not a mistake? Another possibility is that people meant just what they said, and that it cannot be comprehended within the elite intellectual culture. It would have been easy enough to find out through the 30 years of polling on these matters, but no attempt was made, to my knowledge.
Polls are of great value, and tell us a lot. Particularly when attitudes are consistent and coherent over long periods, as they typically are; a valuable study on this is Benjamin Page and Marshall Bouton, The Foreign Policy Disconnect (2006). But they always have to be used with caution, particularly when results appear internally contradictory or otherwise obscure.
