Done in by the Draft

The real anti-war movement was tied to the draft, and the fact that college students could be drafted; once that threat was removed, the anti-war movement died out.

Although I believe (and I think this can be corroborated by others) that the intensity of anti-war sentiment was closely tied to the draft, I don't mean to question the sincerity of individuals in protesting the Vietnam war. I think we all agreed that it was stupid, criminal, and should be stopped. But it wasn't just some abstract thing as long as there was a chance that students could be forced to go and fight. And when the lottery was instituted, and many people found themselves unlikely to be drafted and sent to Vietnam, somehow the intensity of the anti-war movement decreased markedly.

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