Essay On The Effects Of The Cold War On America

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In the time period from 1948 to 1961, Americans had to deal with the aftermath of World War II. After the Second World War, the Cold War began between the Soviet Union and the United States. The animosity between the Soviet Union and the U.S. caused American people to be afraid of communism being spread and nuclear war. American people feared that the Soviet Union would spread communism across the globe and affect the United States as well. U.S. citizens were also afraid of the arms race that occurred during the Cold War. President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s foreign policies were unsuccessful in alleviating the tension people felt. In the mid-1900s, fears of communism infiltrating into the U.S. caused a second Red Scare and caused extremists such …show more content…

did not want to fall behind. As a result, during his administration, Eisenhower eased American hysteria to a certain extent, but was unsuccessful in containing communism or developing peaceful relations with the Soviet Union, which were the main concerns of the American people after the Second World War. During the 1950s, distrust between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, which was caused by the U.S. promoting democracy and the Soviet Union promoting communism, heightened causing widespread American fear. In June 1954, John Foster Dulles specifically addressed this issue by stating, “If world communism captures any American State . . . [it would] increase the danger to the entire free world . . . [and endanger] the peace of America.” American people felt that their liberties were at risk and felt deeply threatened by communism spreading, as the Soviet Union had been successful in spreading communism into the Eastern European nations. During this time period, Republican U.S. Senator, Joseph McCarthy rose to power as he accused Americans of being communists with little to no evidence. McCarthy would often give interviews on television which served as a significantly

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