In the Time Period Following World War Two - the Beginning of the Cold

In the time period following World War Two - the beginning of

the Cold

War, the American people were afraid of three things, nuclear war,

spreading communism, and the communist investigators in America.

However, nuclear war, the threat of communism, and overly aggressive

communist investigation committees were only partially addressed by the

government, and American fears were more often than not increased by

the Eisenhower Administration's and the media's actions. The fear of

nuclear war

is a prime example of the Eisenhower Administration's partial success

to address the

fear, and its slight increase of the fear.

Nuclear war may be one of the world's most prevalent fears,

even

today, but in the 1950's it was forever on Americans' minds, as the

Soviets acquired nuclear weapons and the Cold War arms race began.

Americans became increasingly paranoid about a Soviet Nuclear strike on

American soil, and many people began to believe the only way to prevent

one was to make the first strike in the nuclear war (Document E). The

Eisenhower Administration addressed American fears of nuclear war

slightly, but did

nothing to help them. J.F.K., among others, addressed these fears in

widely publicized speeches saying that "the deadly atom" could be

unleashed to "engulf all humanity in planned of accidental

self-destuction" (Document I). Statements such as these prompted

Americans to support massively increased defense funding (Document H)

and an increase of the media and industry using the American fears to

their advantage. A prime example of this is Document C, which shows a

family in a fallout shelter. Inside the shelter is canned food, water,

and other survival materials. The profits of publishing materials such

as this went to the media and industries producing these materials. As

is apparent, the Eisenhower Administration addressed but did not quell

American fears,

and certain groups in America were able to take advantage of this fear.

Another great American fear in the 1950s was the threat of communism.

Communism, and the great communist power of the Soviet Union,

were

spreading across Asia and eastern Europe, striking fear in the hearts

of Americans as country after country fell to communism. As American

politicians such as George Kennan developed and strengthened the idea

of containment, and powerful cabinet members such as John Foster Dulles

spread the idea that "world communism...will increase the danger to

the entire free world", Americans became more and more afraid of

communism. Americans began to believe their leaders when they said

that communism was "endangering the peace of America" (Document B)

and when they addressed the problem they had created by making