This TV commercial ran once, during Lyndon Johnson’s campaign for President, and it scared so many people so badly it was taken down after one airing on September 7, 1964. Americans were not happy with even thinking about nuclear annihilation and didn’t want to face the reality of an arms race.

Johnson’s opponent Barry Goldwater had famously said, “Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Many disagreed, and Johnson won in a landslide victory.

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