Browse the decades below for a glimpse into the events and accomplishments that Peace Action has been a part of over the last 60 years, from the time of our founding as the Committee for a SANE Nuclear Policy to SANE’s merger with the Nuclear Freeze campaign to the transformation from SANE/FREEZE to today’s Peace Action network.

Peace Action Timeline

2010s

2016

Through pressure from Peace Action members and a coalition of peace and human rights organizations, Textron — the last U.S. weapons company making cluster bombs, a deadly indiscriminate weapon that’s made headlines in the past year for killing and maiming hundreds of civilians in Yemen’s civil war — announced that it would no longer manufacture them.

2015

In July 2015, the Iran nuclear deal, aka the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, between Iran, the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, China and the European Union is announced. Peace Action played a critical role in engaging the public to urge many potentially swing Senate voters to support the deal. This landmark agreement keeps Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and demonstrates that the best way to eliminate the spread of nuclear weapons is through rigorous, smart diplomacy, and not military action.

2011

On March 24, 2011, one million of the petition signatures went on exhibition at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in a ceremony attended by Japanese survivors, Peace Action staff and other representatives from national and international peace organizations.

2010

Peace Action played a lead role in the organizing for international grassroots action around the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference at the United Nations in May, 2010.  Peace Action served as the repository for petitions gathered in the US as part of the international effort.  During the NPT conference at the UN, Peace Action’s President was invited to make a short speech on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly while delivering a portion of the 6 million petition signatures collected, including those collected by Peace Action’s chapters and affiliates.  Peace Action worked to secure ratification of the new START nuclear arms reduction pact to reduce U.S. and Russian deployed, strategic nuclear weapons by 30%.  Peace Action coordinated visits between its chapter and affiliate leaders and ‘swing’ Senators and their staff, as well as email alerts to hundreds of thousands of supporters, letters to the editor and other media work.  The New START Treaty was ratified in December, 2010.

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2000s

2009

Peace Action had the honor of co-chairing the United Nations Department of Information Non-Governmental Organizations conference in Mexico City. Over 1,600 international NGO’s accredited by the United Nations attended the conference, which, at the behest of the Mexican government, focused on peace and disarmament. Chuck Hitchcock, a member of Peace Action’s International Committee was chosen the Conference Co-Chair.  Peace Action created and successfully moved legislation for no permanent bases in Iraq and other policy and pressure tactics that turned U.S. policy around regarding Iraq, including the Status of Forces (SOFA) Agreement.  This agreement calls for U.S. troop reduction from about 96,000 to 50,000 by August 2010 and all troops exiting with no bases left behind by the end of 2011.

2008

Peace Action mobilized its grassroots network to generate thousands of comments opposing Complex Transformation to the DOE during the formal comment period. In just the first few weeks, our comment campaign produced over 11,000 of the 30,000 comments sent to the Department of Energy opposing Complex Transformation. This flood of comments was followed by Peace Action supporters attending DOE hearings, and also organizing their own “citizens’ hearings”, providing direct testimony opposing Complex Transformation. Throughout the spring and summer our supporters directly engaged policymakers with their opposition to the Bush plan. Peace Action’s Peace Voter Campaign registered voters and supported progressive candidates in several key electoral races.

2007

Peace Action organized and participated in United for Peace and Justice mass mobilization in Washington DC on January 27 bringing in busloads of members from around the country.  The mobilization was followed by a grassroots lobby day on January 29.  Nationally, PA mobilized effective pressure to defeat the Administration’s proposed “Reliable Replacement Warhead” eliminating funds for this dangerous, more “usable” nuclear weapons program. Finally, Peace Action mobilized its grassroots and online activist networks in a campaign to educate Congress, the media and the general public on the threat of a military strike against Iran.

2006

Peace Voter 2006 plays a key role in helping mobilize the pro-peace vote in the mid-term elections, which delivers a stunning rebuke to Bush and his disastrous war and occupation of Iraq. Peace Action and its affiliate network distributes over a million non-partisan voter guides comparing and contrasting candidates’ positions on peace issues.

2005

Peace Action marks the 60th year anniversary of U.S. atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in addition to mobilizing support for September 24th Mass Mobilizations to End the War in Iraq. The mass mobilization was followed by 3 days of citizen lobbying events involving over 1000 activists visiting their Members of Congress, with Peace Action playing a major role in a day-long training and mobilizing citizen lobbyists.

2004

Peace Action initiates the “Voice of Democracy Tour” to utilize the influence of nationally known speakers and performers to encourage citizens to think critically, debate openly, and act decisively to protect our civil liberties and shape a foreign policy that isn’t foreign to our ideals.

2003

Iraq War begins in March and Peace Action continues to mobilize national opposition in addition to launching the Campaign for a New Foreign Policy, a major initiative to build grassroots support and congressional pressure for a US foreign policy based on human rights and democracy, nuclear disarmament and international cooperation.

2002

Peace Action plays an important role in the movement against war on Iraq.

2001

The devastating attacks of September 11, 2001 shake the country. Peace Action responds to the war on terrorism and the bombing of Afghanistan with a call for Justice not War.

2000

Peace Voter 2000 mobilizes voters in 39 House and 10 Senate races to bring peace issues to the elections. Television ads are run in 17 major media markets in 12 states and over 2 million voter guides are distributed throughout the country.

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1990s

1999

Peace Action organizes against “cruise missile humanitarianism” by opposing the NATO bombing of Kosovo and helps to found the National Coalition for Peace and Justice, a body uniting most of the major peace groups in the country. Also in 1999, Peace Action remembers the bombing of Nagasaki by staging the largest demonstration in the history of Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The demonstration was led by actor Martin Sheen, who was arrested along with dozens of others in a non-violent civil disobedience action.

1998

Peace Action expands its fledgling Student Peace Action Network to over 100 campuses across the nation. Peace Voter ’98 reaches 4 million voters.

1997

The US Senate ratifies the Chemical Weapons Convention. Indonesia withdraws its request for US fighter jets due to “unwarranted criticism” of its human rights record. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (of which Peace Action is a member) wins the Nobel Peace Prize. Peace Action celebrates its 40th Anniversary with gala events in Boston, New York and Washington DC; honorees and speakers include Rep. Donald V. Dellums, Sen. Tom Harkin, Judy Collins, Peter Yarrow, Randall Forsberg, Jane Alexander, William Sloane Coffin and Rep. Cynthia McKinney.

1996

Peace Action wages Peace Voter ’96, the organization’s largest nationally coordinated campaign since the mid-eighties; over one million Peace Voter Guides are distributed. President Clinton signs the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Peace Action joins human rights groups to stop major weapons sales to Indonesia and Turkey.

1995

Peace Action presses for completion of a nuclear test ban at the 25th anniversary review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and leads a national dialogue about the 50th Anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.

1994

Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) and Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-OR) introduce Peace Action-crafted legislation – the Arms Trade Code of Conduct – to restrict US weapons sales to dictators and human rights abusers.

1993

SANE/FREEZE becomes Peace Action.

1991

SANE/FREEZE coordinates anti-Gulf War marches in Washington, DC, helping to mobilize 500,000 protesters. SANE/FREEZE launches campaign to end weapons sale to dictators with an International Conference on the Weapons Trade in New York, attended by representatives of over 100 countries, co-hosted by the Riverside Church Disarmament Program.

1990

SANE/FREEZE helps lead an historic public resistance to US military buildup in the Persian Gulf.

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1980s

1988

Massive radioactive contamination causes Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons sites to close; SANE/FREEZE launches the “Keep Them Shut!” campaign.

1987

The Reagan/Gorbachev summit marks the signing of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. SANE/FREEZE holds its founding National Congress in Cleveland OH; Jesse Jackson’s speech draws more than 1,000. SANE/FREEZE joins the International Peace Bureau, a Nobel Peace Prize winning coalition for disarmament organizations. The Reverend William Sloane Coffin Jr. is chosen as President of SANE/FREEZE.

1986

SANE/FREEZE opens its International Office in New York City. The US House of Representatives votes to limit nuclear testing, reduce funding for Star Wars and other weapons programs. Jesse Jackson, a member of SANE’s Board of Directors leads a delegation to the 1st Reagan/Gorbachev summit in Geneva, meeting with Gorbachev and presenting the US and Soviet delegations with over 1 million signatures in support of a nuclear test ban treaty.

1985

SANE and Freeze activists intensify participation in nonviolent direct action protests at the Nevada nuclear test site.

1984

SANE’s door-to-door canvass reaches over 250,000 households and recruits 10,000 new activists by early 1984; overall membership tops 100,000. President Reagan announces that Washington is ready for “mutual compromises” with the Soviets to resume arms control negotiations. SANE’s weekly radio program, “Consider the Alternatives,” is on 140 stations. Despite a Reagan landslide, 106 of the 167 House and Senate candidates endorsed by SANE PAC go on to win. The MX missile program is halted.

1983

The Nuclear Freeze resolution passes the US House of Representatives. SANE, working to link peace and civil rights, participates in the 20th Anniversary Mobilization commemorating the historic civil rights march on Washington DC. Hollywood for SANE is revitalized, and publishes an ad in Variety magazine signed by over 250 celebrities including Jack Lemmon, Burt Lancaster, James Earl Jones, Sally Field, Jean Stapleton, Shirley MacLaine, Anne Bancroft and Ed Asner.

1982

The Kennedy-Hatfield freeze resolution is introduced in the US Senate. One million gather in New York City on June 12 – the largest peace and disarmament march in US history. A sister rally draws 100,000 to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The SANE Political Action Committee is formed; 16 of 32 SANE supported candidates win. More than 10 million voters approve nuclear freeze referenda in 8 states.

1981

President Reagan unveils plans for a record $200 billion military budget along with unprecedented cutbacks in social programs. SANE sponsors a major conference opposing the spread of Pershing II and cruise missiles in Europe. The Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign is founded in Washington, D.C. SANE wins the cancellation of plans for MX missiles in Utah and Nevada.

1980

The first of dozens of nuclear freeze resolutions is approved in Western Massachusetts. A referenda against MX missiles is approved in Nevada.

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1970s

1979

SANE builds a labor/peace alliance on reduced military spending and economic conversion with Machinists Union President William Winpinsinger. SANE lays the groundwork for a national STOP-MX Missile Campaign. SANE members demonstrate their support of President Jimmy Carter’s announced goal of reducing nuclear weapons programs.

1978

The Three Mile Island nuclear reactor suffers a partial meltdown.

1977

SANE works with the National Campaign to Stop the B-1 Bomber, helping achieve a 10 vote margin to suspend production and deployment of the weapon; also winning an amendment barring funds for the Neutron bomb. SANE produces “The Race Nobody Wins,” a documentary narrated by Tony Randall.

1976

SANE’s conference on “The Arms Race and the Economic Crisis” features Seymour Melman, Senator Dick Clark (IA), and George Rathjens. SANE’s Sanford Gottlieb testifies before the Democratic Platform Committee and wins insertion of an economic conversion plank in the party platform.

1974

SANE alerts the public to the dangers of “limited” nuclear war plans and the connections between military spending and inflation.

1973

U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ends on April 30. SANE lobbies to have Congress end the bombing in Cambodia, and leads a successful effort to pass the War Powers Act. SANE takes on the military budget, and produces the “America Has a Tapeworm” ad.

1972

SANE criticizes the ABM Treaty and SALT agreements for ignoring offensive strategic weapons. Following Richard Nixon’s reelection, SANE advocates Congressional cut-off of funds for the Vietnam War.

1971

SANE helps to organize an April war protest attended by an estimated more than 200,000 people.

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1960s

1969

SANE produces ads attacking anti-ballistic missiles (ABM): “From the people who brought you Vietnam.” SANE national conference on ABMs in Washington features Nobel Prize winner George Wald, Yale psychiatrist Dr. Robert J. Lifton, and Rep. George Brown (D-CA). The SANE Board changes its policy on the war, and urges the US government to withdraw unilaterally from Vietnam. SANE helps to coordinate a November march on D.C.

1968

SANE endorses Senator Eugene McCarthy for President. President Johnson announces he “would not seek, nor accept the nomination of (his) party for another term.”

1967

Dr. Spock helps organize the Spring Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam. SANE becomes the first national organization to advocate removal of President Johnson from office, helping launch the “Dump Johnson” movement.

1966

Rev. William Sloane Coffin and Norman Thomas co-chair SANE’s “Voter’s Peace Pledge Campaign” to urge Congressional candidates to work for peace in Vietnam.

1965

The Vietnam War escalates: an early critic of armed intervention, SANE organizes an Emergency Rally on Vietnam which attracts 18,000 to Madison Square Garden, while a march on Washington in November draws 35,000. Vice-president Hubert Humphrey meets with SANE leaders Dr. Spock, Sanford Gottlieb and Homer Jack three days after march “to openly, responsibly, and frankly discuss their proposals” to end the war. Senator George McGovern receives SANE’s Eleanor Rooveselt Peace Award from Co- Chairman Dr. Benjamin Spock.

1964

President-elect Lyndon Johnson sends a personal greeting to SANE’s Seventh Annual Conference, delivered by the Deputy Director of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.

1963

Dentists for SANE launch ad campaign — “Your children’s teeth contain Strontium 90.” SANE’s Norman Cousins acts as an unofficial liaison between President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Khrushchev on test ban negotiations. The Limited Test Ban Treaty is signed in Moscow on July 25; President Kennedy sends personal thanks to Mr. Cousins and SANE.

1962

Pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock is recruited as a national sponsor; a “Dr. Spock is worried” ad appears in the New York Times, and is reprinted in 700 papers worldwide. Graphic Artists for SANE is organized, including Jules Feiffer, Ben Shahn, and Edward Sorel. SANE organizes a rally of over 10,000 on “Cuba Sunday” to express concern and outrage over the Cuban Missile Crisis. SANE works for the first time to elect congressional candidates “who come close to (SANE’s) reasoned position.”

1961

SANE hosts an eight day, 109-mile march from McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey to United Nations Plaza. It is the largest of SANE’s April Peace Mobilizations, which are attended by more than 25,000 people. International sponsors of SANE (including Martin Buber, Pablo Casals, Bertrand Russell and Albert Schweitzer) petition President Kennedy to maintain a moratorium on testing in the atmosphere.

1960

SANE Rally in Madison Square Garden, New York City, attracts 20,000 to hear Eleanor Roosevelt, Norman Cousins, Norman Thomas, A. Philip Randolph, Walter Reuther, Harry Belafonte call for an end to the arms race.

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1950s

1959

Steve Allen hosts the founding meeting of Hollywood SANE. Members included Marlon Brando, Henry Fonda, Marilyn Monroe, Arthur Miller, Harry Belafonte and Ossie Davis.

1958

The Soviet Union announces a unilateral halt to atmospheric nuclear tests and the US responds with a one year testing moratorium. The National Student Council for a SANE Nuclear Policy is organized.

1957

The Committee for a SANE Nuclear Policy is founded and launches its first advertisement calling for a ban on nuclear testing in the New York Times.

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