The silent majority is a unspecifie large majority of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly. The term was first used by the U.S. President Richard Nixon in a November 3, 1969 speech, where it referred to those Americans who did not join in the large demonstrations against the Vietnam War at the time, who did not engage in riots and attack police officers, who did not join in the counterculture, and who did not enthusiastically participate in public discourse or the media. Nixon along with many others saw this group as being overshadowed by the more vocal minority.