Olum advocated the abolition of the House Committee on Unamerican Activities, was an early critic of the Vietnam War, and sought to remove the Reserve Officer Training Corps from the Cornell campus.
Olum obhajoval zrušení sněmovního výboru pro neamerickou činnost, byl kritikem války ve Vietnamu, a snažil se odstranit Reserve Officer Training Corps z areálu Cornellovy univerzity.