Georgetown University, College Republicans, Vietnam
Pauken entered Georgetown University in 1961 and became involved in politics as a "foot soldier in a small but growing conservative army" that was known for their support of the U.S. Senator Barry M. Goldwater.
Pauken was elected national chairman of College Republicans and served from 1965 to 1967. The issue of the Vietnam War dominated his time as chairman; Pauken organized the bipartisan National Student Committee for the Defense of Vietnam. The group collected more than half a million signatures from students across the nation for a petition expressing support for American soldiers in Vietnam that was presented to Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey.
Upon completion of his term as the chairman of College Republicans, Pauken enlisted in the Army, because "I knew . . . I would be nothing but a hypocrite if I ducked my own obligation to serve." Pauken served as a military intelligence officer in Vietnam and returned to America at the end of December, 1969
Read more about this topic: Thomas Pauken
Famous quotes containing the words college and/or vietnam:
“Thirty-five years ago, when I was a college student, people wrote letters. The businessman who read, the lawyer who traveled; the dressmaker in evening school, my unhappy mother, our expectant neighbor: all conducted an often large and varied correspondence. It was the accustomed way of ordinarily educated people to occupy the world beyond their own small and immediate lives.”
—Vivian Gornick (b. 1935)
“Let us understand: North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States. Only Americans can do that.”
—Richard M. Nixon (1913–1992)