But most of all, McGovern was known for his continued opposition to the Vietnam War. In March 1969, he became the first senator to explicitly criticize the new president's policy there, an action that was seen as a breach of customary protocol by other Senate doves. The diversion during these years of much of Food for Peace's aid to South Vietnam, instead of other badly stricken countries around the world, greatly upset him. By the end of 1969, McGovern was calling for an immediate cease-fire and a total withdrawal of all American troops within a year. In October 1969 McGovern was a featured speaker before 100,000 demonstrators in Boston at the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, and in November he spoke before 350,000 at Moratorium/Mobilization's antiwar march to the Washington Monument. Afterward, he decided that radicalized peace demonstrations were counterproductive and criticized antiwar figures such as Rennie Davis, Tom Hayden, Huey Newton, Abbie Hoffman, and Jerry Rubin as "reckless" and "irresponsible."