The Homefront
1) During the 1950s and 60s America was obsessed with communism
2) The American public and gov’t was hysterical over the threat of communism
3) The threat of nuclear war was always
present during the Cold War
The Homefront
5) The U.S. government even encouraged citizens to build bomb shelters in their own basements
The RED SCARE 1) Many Americans became convinced that
there was a communist threat within the U.S.
2) The Red Scare = public hysteria about the threat and presence of communists in the U.S
3) As a result of the Red Scare communists were persecuted for their beliefs in the U.S.
THE HUAC
1) HUAC = The House Un-American Affairs Committee
2) This government organization convicted people for being communists
THE HUAC
3) Many people were interrogated because of “guilt by association”
(If your friends were communists, you must be too)
THE HUAC
4) The HUAC specifically targeted Hollywood actors and writers
5) If you were accused of being a Communist you would usually loose your job
Sen. Joseph McCarthy
1) Leader of the fanatical anti-communist campaign in the ‘50s
Sen. Joseph McCarthy
2) He claimed that he had the names of 200 Communists that were working for the U.S. Government
a. McCarthy played on American fears of communism to eliminate his political enemies
Sen. Joseph McCarthy
b. McCarthy had little to no evidence to support his accusations
3) The term “McCarthyism” = became known as making false accusations based on rumors or guilt by association
Alger Hiss
1) He worked for the U.S. State Department
2) He was accused of being a Russian spy
3) Many Americans thought he was innocent
4) Sentenced to four years in prison
2) Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
1) Both were Russian spies who stole secrets about the atomic bomb and sent them to the USSR
2) Both were executed for espionage
Cold War Spies
3) Both of these court trials were highly publicized and they increased public fears of communists within the U.S.
Virginia and the Cold War
1) The heavy military expenses throughout the Cold War benefited Virginia’s economy more than any other state
Virginia and the Cold War
Northern Virginia is home to the Pentagon (U.S. military headquarters) and numerous private companies that contract with the U.S. military
Election of 1960
A) Eisenhower’s Vice President, Richard Nixon (Rep.) ran against John F. Kennedy (Dem.)
VS.
1) This election had the first televised debates in history and it played a major role in the election
Election of 1960
Election of 1960
B) Kennedy won the election
(Lyndon B. Johnson was his Vice Pres.)
President Vice President
&
Pres. Kennedy and the Cold War
2) In his inaugural address as President, Kennedy pledged that the U.S. would “pay any price, bear any burden , meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty”
Pres. Kennedy and the Cold War
3) At the end of the same speech Kennedy also said, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”
The Berlin Wall
3) The citizens of East Berlin began to move to into Allied controlled West Berlin to escape communist oppression
4) To prevent this migration the USSR erected a huge concrete wall to divide the city in 1961
Cuban Revolution
2) The Soviet Union quickly recognized the new communist state
3) Many Cuban rebels fled to Florida to escape Cuba
The Bay of Pigs invasion (1961)
1) Kennedy supported a CIA plan to overthrow Fidel Castro
2) The CIA armed 1200 Cuban rebels to attack Cuba to lead a popular uprising against Castro
The Bay of Pigs invasion (1961)
3) The U.S. promised to give the Cuban rebels air support for their invasion
The Bay of Pigs invasion (1961)
4) The rebels invaded at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba and the U.S. did not provide air support
5) The invasion did not start an uprising and was a horrible failure
The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
1) In 1962, the USSR put nuclear missiles in Cuba and pointed them at the U.S.
2) Kennedy demanded that the USSR remove the missiles
The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
3) For 13 days, the world was on the brink of nuclear war
4) The USSR conceded to remove the missiles if the U.S. agreed not to invade Cuba
JFK assassinated (1963)
2) There have been numerous theories about who was behind the Kennedy assassination
3) There is now sufficient public evidence to suggest that there was a government cover-up from their investigation
JFK assassinated (1963)
4) This event shook the nation’s confidence and began a period of serious internal strife and division (1960s & 70s) within the American public that had not existed since the Civil War
JFK assassinated (1963)
5) This division of the American public was especially spurred by U.S. involvement in Vietnam