Analyze the ways in which the Vietnam war heightened social tensions in the US. Focus your answer on the period 1964 to 1975.

The Vietnam War did a tremendous amount to create and
heighten social (and political) tensions in the US.  It created and emphasized a gap
between people who believed in traditional values and those who did not.  This gap
translated into politics, becoming a partisan issue between Republicans and
Democrats.

Traditionally, American patriotism was taken to
mean that people should support what the country did militarily, no matter what.  The
military was seen as an extension of the country, not as something to be argued over and
criticized on partisan terms.  This belief was not held by the anti-war protestors and
other liberals during the Vietnam Era.  They felt that the war was wrong and they
criticized the government and (less justifiably, at least in my mind) the military that
carried out the government's orders.

This helped to create
and exacerbate a gap between traditionalists and liberals.  It helped to create a sense
that the traditionalists (to the liberals) were blind followers, not much better than
Germans who went along with the Nazis.  On the other side, it helped to create a sense
that liberals were people who hated the country that had given them so much in the way
of material wealth and rights.  This was a huge split and it continues to some extent to
this day.