silent majority
E774489
The "silent majority" is a political term popularized by U.S. President Richard Nixon to describe the large group of ostensibly moderate, non-protesting citizens whose support he claimed for his policies.
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf | political concept ⓘ |
| appealTarget |
suburban voters
ⓘ
white middle-class Americans ⓘ working-class voters ⓘ |
| associatedWith | Richard Nixon NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| associatedWithEra |
early 1970s
ⓘ
late 1960s ⓘ |
| associatedWithIssue | Vietnam War NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| category |
American political catchphrases
ⓘ
political rhetoric ⓘ |
| contrastedWith |
anti-war protesters
ⓘ
counterculture movement ⓘ student activists ⓘ |
| describes |
large group of citizens who are not publicly vocal
ⓘ
non-protesting citizens ⓘ ostensibly moderate citizens ⓘ |
| firstMajorUseYear | 1969 ⓘ |
| hasDebatedStatus |
empirical existence of such a majority
ⓘ
representativeness of the group it describes ⓘ size of the group it describes ⓘ |
| hasInfluenceOn |
modern populist discourse
ⓘ
subsequent U.S. presidential campaigns ⓘ |
| hasInterpretation |
majority that is politically disengaged
ⓘ
majority that is socially conservative but not activist ⓘ |
| hasOriginCountry | United States NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasPoliticalOrientation | typically conservative-leaning ⓘ |
| impliesSupportFor |
Nixon administration policies
ⓘ
government policies ⓘ |
| influencedBy |
perception of media bias
ⓘ
social unrest in the 1960s ⓘ |
| languageOfTerm | English ⓘ |
| popularizedBy | Richard Nixon NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| popularizedInSpeech | Richard Nixon's November 3, 1969 speech on the Vietnam War NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
middle America
ⓘ
moral majority ⓘ silent majority of voters ⓘ silent voters ⓘ |
| rhetoricalFunction |
to claim broad but quiet public support
ⓘ
to contrast with vocal minorities ⓘ |
| usedAs |
campaign slogan element
ⓘ
legitimizing narrative for policy ⓘ |
| usedBy |
conservative politicians
ⓘ
populist leaders ⓘ right-wing movements ⓘ |
| usedByOfficeholder | President of the United States NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| usedInContext |
U.S. domestic politics
ⓘ
culture wars ⓘ electoral politics ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.