What Were the Cold War Fears of the American People in the Aftermath of the Second World War?

The aftermath of the Second World War was supposed to be filled with newfound peace and international compromises but these hopes were soon shattered by the rise of the Cold War. The Cold War was a non-combative struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union to emerge as the greatest superpower in terms of weaponry and wealth. Both nations were engaged in this nuclear arm race where both sides were equipped with highly modernized weapons of mass destruction. This ignited fears such as obliteration, budget deficit, and social changes within the American society. As president, Dwight D. Eisenhower tried to fix these fears by enforcing proper solutions in hope of stopping the angst of the expansion of anti-communism hysteria and the panic of destruction.

Americans feared the spread of Communism because if it took over enough of the world, it would become a threat to United States' supremacy as well as its freedom. Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, expresses his concern on how close Latin America is due to its proximity within the United States and its potential danger to American's sovereignty (Doc B). If Latin American and other countries in the Western Hemisphere slowly convert over to Communism, then sooner or later United States would also be under the influence of it, according to Eisenhower's domino theory. The goal for Americans after the war was to emerge as a great superpower and lead the world into peace but if Communism were to sit in the way, then this goal would be unachievable. Therefore, the anti-communism hysteria fueled within the American society and Eisenhower stepped in to address these fears.

To deal with the anti-communism hysteria, Eisenhower imposed many anti-communist policies in hopes of solving the hysteria. He ensured the public that he was going to find a way to deal with the hysteria and by addressing to them that he understands their fears of McCarthyism (Doc A). One of the policies that Eisenhower imposed was the Executive Order 10450 which was very similar to that of Truman's Loyalty Program. The only difference is that this involved more people and the establishment of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Another policy that he enforced was the National Security Act, which created alliances between American officials and international allies. This was in hope to gain more countries onto the American side rather than the Communist. America's involvement in the Korean War was also an example where it demonstrated that United States would contribute into foreign wars if it means to stop Communism from spreading.

With USSR's first launching of its atomic bomb and missile, and its success in Sputnik, United States began to fear for their technological gap and realized they were behind Russia (Doc G). Americans feared that the USSR might be able to spread Communism faster now due to its technology advancement and they were also afraid that Russia would