In September 1969, Charlie Goodell decided he was opposed to the Vietnam War. This was no small thing. Goodell was a Republican senator from New York, appointed to the job after nine years in the House of Representatives.
He was selected, in part, because he was considered a loyal Republican, and the Republican in the White House (Richard Nixon) wasn’t expecting him to rock any boats. Yet there he was, doing just that.
Goodell previously supported the war in Southeast Asia. After speaking to its opponents, particularly students on New York college campuses, he no longer could.