Before VietNam we had a saying. "Partisanship stops at the water's edge." Of course, back then the assumption was that any potential antagonism would come from the opposition, not from one's own party.
I don't really remember politics pre-vietnam, but I distinctly remember that, especially since my Dad was retired Air Force and was stationed in Vietnam early on. I probably would not have paid much attention, or understood what the press etc was doing except that my parents talked about it, and our family had lots of discussions about politics and what was going on in the world.
susie