Simplify the following text for a Grade 10 native English-speaking person.
Original: He identified himself as a political independent although he held conservative opinions on several issues , including the Vietnam War ( he once wrote Martin Luther King , Jr. to defend the Johnson Administration 's military policy ) .
Simplified: He called himself a political independent . But he held conservative thoughts on several issues , including the Vietnam War ( he once wrote Martin Luther King , Jr. to defend the Johnson Administration 's military policy ) .