On the Vietnam War series, it said 58 percent of the American public

[tonedevil]

10. It was pervasive...

there had been unrest including rioting for several years and "The Older Generation" wanted those youngsters brought to heel. I was one of those youngsters. The Democratic Convention in 1968 featured a rumble between construction workers and hippies. It cemented the Generation Gap.
When Kent State happened the default was they wouldn't get shot if they weren't doing something wrong. My father and I had arguments about this until he passed away in the mid 1990s. He was convinced they had rushed the National Guard and were shot as a result.
The WH did fan the flames for sure. One of the most colorful phrases to come out of those times was VP Agnew calling those who would protest nattering naybobs of negativism. It was probably a line from a speach writer, but it effectively communicated the contempt they felt for anyone with the temerity to question them.