Iran War Live Updates: Drone Barrage at Kuwait Airport Kills One and Injures Dozens

[struggle4progress]

1. "I got a letter from LBJ"

... Despite its popularity within the growing anti-war movement, the song was effectively banned or "blacklisted" by most major stations across the United States.

While folk singers like Paxton were selling out concert halls, the airwaves remained a different story.
In 1967, commercial radio stations were generally averse to playing music with overtly controversial or political lyrics. Unlike more metaphorical protest songs, Paxton’s lyrics directly targeted President Lyndon B. Johnson, mocking the administration's claims of avoiding "escalation" while simultaneously sending 50,000 more troops to Vietnam.

Because the song used humor to highlight the contradictions of the draft and the war effort, many station managers viewed it as too provocative or unpatriotic for a mass audience. Though it didn't top the Billboard charts due to the radio freeze, the song became a staple of 1960s counterculture. Its impact was so lasting that Paxton eventually updated it decades later—retitled "George W. Told the Nation"—to protest the Iraq War, proving that while radio stations might try to silence a message, the sentiment remains incredibly resilient.