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Lyndon Johnson told the nation

Have no fear of escalation

I am trying everyone to please

Though it isn't really war

We're sending fifty thousand more

To help save Vietnam from the Vietnamese

"Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation" was written by John Paxton and released in 1965. Paxton had multiple hit songs throughout the 1960s and 70s. He sang folk style songs that were about the political movements, and they tended to be harshly critical and witty. In this song, the chorus is sharing how President Johnson sent more troops to Vietnam to help protect its people. The first line is the stating the fact that President Johnson told the nation that, in the second line, he did not want the war to escalate. The third line explains Johnson is trying to please the people of Vietnam by protecting them from the Vietnamese with fifty thousand more troops. I chose the chorus because it summarized how President Johnson reacted to the war. This relates to the time period because the Vietnam War was occurring during 1965, which was when the song was released. The overall message that was being sent is that the US was involved in a war that it did not need to be in. The song explains the events that took place during the war and how Americans back home felt about it.