Thank You, Mr. President – A Country Music Tribute Album To President Nixon

I came across an interesting story on NPR about country music and it’s conservative roots. It’s in audio format, so I tried to write out some of the highlights. All of this research was done by Lester Feder, a political and popular culture writer, at the National Archives.

Feder says that prior to the late 1960s country music wasn’t especially political. Politicians and country music artists had worked together on political campaigns prior to the 1968 election between George Wallace and Richard Nixon, but never on a grand scale. Wallace, Alabama’s governor, gave Nixon a run for his money during the 1968 presidential race by using country music artists on a national scale to appeal to southerners and the working class. It was the first time country music performers had come out in large numbers for a political candidate, and they all endorsed Wallace or Nixon.

Nixon won the election, but knew he was going to have to run against Wallace again in 1972, so he took a page from Wallace’s book during his tenure as president and began courting country music. Nixon and Nashville worked together because it was mutually advantageous. Country music gained more attention and Nixon would gain more supporters. Nixon helped raise the profile of country music by naming October of 1970 country music month and inviting several country music performers to the White House.

In 1969 Merle Haggard released Okie From Muskogee which became an important turning point. Haggard said the character was created in parody but it lashed out at Hippies, counter-culture, and the anti-war movement and got a very earnest reception from country music fans. It revealed that their was a large market across the country for a kind of entertainment that gave a voice to conservative ideals, the “silent-majority.”

During his tenure, the Country Music Association presented President Nixon with an album titled Thank You, Mr. President. The majority of the songs on the album weren’t overly political, but they represented the ideals of working class America and the lifestyles that many people had felt were looked down upon by the cultural elite.

The album was never released to the public, and to the best of Feder’s knowledge, only two copies exist.

Feder claims that country music as a marketing category remains as conservative as ever, but country music as a musical style is much more broad. The Dixie Chicks illustrate his point, as well as the flourishing of the Alt-Country and Americana movements. He goes on to say that these may become their own genres in time with their own political significance.

I did a quick search for the album over at the National Archives, but couldn’t find anything about the album or which songs were on it. From the few samples played on NPR I picked out these songs: Battle of New Orleans – Johnny Horton, Po’ Folks – Bill Anderson, Okie From Muskogee – Merle Haggard, and Coal Miner’s Daughter – Loretta Lynn. There was also a song titled That’s All This Old World Needs, but I don’t know who sings it.

Also, while doing a little more research I found another article by Feder on the same topic, but with a little extra material than what was discussed on NPR.

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I know people get passionate about their politics, so try and keep things civil in the comments, but what is your opinion on the conservative history/nature of country music and do you think we’re seeing a shift in the political climate of country music?