Why Is The Song Lyndon Johnson Told The Nation
The song "Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation" (Elektra Records # EKL 298) was one of the key tracks of the anti-war movement, and an important representation of the "credibility gap"- that the US executive / president mislead the public about the growing US military commitment to the region.
On 4 August 1964, President Johnson gave a speech on the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, in which he told the American public that the US must take action against "this new...aggression". He re-assured the public that "we still seek no wider war". Yet, in 1965 Johnson began to significantly escalate the Vietnam conflict - from 59,900 in June 1965 to 184,300 by December 1965. Thus US folk singer Tom Paxton addressed this contradiction in the chorus:
"Lyndon Johnson
On 4 August 1964, President Johnson gave a speech on the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, in which he told the American public that the US must take action against "this new...aggression". He re-assured the public that "we still seek no wider war". Yet, in 1965 Johnson began to significantly escalate the Vietnam conflict - from 59,900 in June 1965 to 184,300 by December 1965. Thus US folk singer Tom Paxton addressed this contradiction in the chorus:
"Lyndon Johnson