Levin and others recall that Hayden was initially skeptical of the congressional strategy. Still bruised and battered by the events of the ’60s, Hayden was wary of alliances with politicians. By the fall, the politics of Vietnam and Watergate pushed the IPC toward lobbying. Fighting between the North and South had resumed, and a war-weary public was beginning to learn more about the president’s abuses of power. The IPC formalized their support of congressional lobbying at a Germantown, Ohio, conference in October. Hayden sought to capitalize on what he referred to as the “Watergate Opportunity,” as he and other IPC organizers agreed the time was right to pressure Congress to cut funding to South Vietnam and stop Nixon from taking drastic military action.
With established relationships on Capitol Hill through Levin and other coalition organizers, Tom, Jane, and their infant son went to Washington in January 1974. In their press releases, they highlighted the corruption of South Vietnam and the plight of the nation’s hundred thousand political prisoners. They also announced their intention to have members of Congress sign on to their three-point pledge, which called for the prohibition of direct US involvement in Indochina, a settlement based on the Paris Peace Agreement, and an end to US aid for police and prison systems in South Vietnam.
The couple purposefully avoided courting media attention, but a few journalists reported on their arrival. Mary McGrory, the venerable liberal columnist for the Washington Star, described the couple as the “most unexpected and most unnerving lobbying team on Capitol Hill.” She echoed other observers who marveled at their interactions with members of Congress. “People expected bandoliers and funny hats,” said one congressional aide to McGrory. “But they’re not like that at all. She’s very refined, and they’re both practical and serious about what they’re doing.”
“Fonda and Hayden are Now Models of Establishment,” declared another columnist who interviewed the latter about the IPC’s shift in tactics. When asked by a reporter about the move from radical protest to lobbying, Hayden, in between Capitol Hill appointments, argued, “The situation has changed.” “Now a majority of the people are on our side about Vietnam,” he added, and insisted that it was now appropriate to engage with the mainstream.
With Levin’s help, the two met with approximately fifty members of Congress to convince them to oppose the president’s recent request for an additional $474 million in military aid. The new proposal tested the antiwar movement’s influence versus Nixon’s.