M06 Overview

Post-War Prosperity and the Cold War (1945-1960)

Figure 1. A comic book cover entitled “Is This Tomorrow / America under Communism!” shows a giant American flag engulfed in flames. In the foreground, invading Russians attack struggling American men and women, including an African American man in a military uniform.

Module 6 focuses on the political and social implications of U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War, including the domestic impact of anticommunism on the American people. The nuclear standoff with the Soviet Union shaped the development of U.S. international policy into a more aggressive and interventionist mode, increasing U.S. direct involvement in Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean during the era. Aside from its ugly domestic effects—loyalty programs and the Red Scare—the Cold War thoroughly colored all foreign policy decisions of the United States from 1945 to 1990. Cold War assumptions led directly to the Vietnam War. Protesters questioned not only U.S. involvement in that particular war, but U.S. Cold War priorities as well. Is This Tomorrow?, a 1947 comic book, highlights one way that the federal government and some Americans revived popular sentiment in opposition to Communism. Between the end of WWII in 1945 and 1947 long-standing tensions drove apart war-time allies, and solidified into a decades long “Cold War.”

The Cold War was a global political and ideological struggle between capitalist and communist countries, particularly between the two surviving superpowers of the postwar world: the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). “Cold” because it was never a “hot,” direct shooting war between the United States and the Soviet Union, the generations-long, multifaceted rivalry nevertheless bent the world to its priorities. Tensions ran highest, perhaps, during the first phase of the Cold War, which lasted from the mid-1940s through the mid-1960s. This was followed by a period of relaxed tensions and increased communication and cooperation, known as détente, until the second phase of the Cold War interceded from roughly 1979 until the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Cold War reshaped the global political order and affected the generations of Americans that lived under its shadow. The list of events and movements, and developments in the U.S that were shaped or reflected Cold War issues is extensive. From technological advances and volatile negotiations in foreign affairs to changes in society and popular culture, hardly any sector of American life was untouched.

America in the 1960s (1960-1970)

The 1960s were a period of immense change. US citizens historically excluded from education, political participation, or economic prosperity successfully mounted grassroots movements to demand justice and equality. The US government, under the presidential leadership of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, responded to these movements by passing laws and mobilizing resources to address issues of inequality and poverty.

The events of the 1960s had a profound impact on the people who lived through the decade. Many voted for the first time; others benefited from federal programs that provided healthcare, job training, and food security. Student movements reshaped campus policies, classrooms, and governance. The Black Power and Chicano movements provided a new sense of pride in racial identities and the women’s movements offered many women a new sense of independence.

The 1960s matter, in part, because of the incredible impact the events of the decade had on the people who lived through it. The decade matters for its impact on the present too. The civil rights, student, and women’s movements rewrote the playbook for protest. Their use of sit-ins, marches, boycotts, and the media to accomplish their goals are common strategies in the social justice movements of the 21st century. Likewise, the progressive programs of the Great Society are now a staple of US domestic policy. Each year, thousands of Americans benefit from the services and support of Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP benefits, school lunch programs, community development initiatives, and job training organizations.

It’s easy to paint a triumphal picture of the decade, which was indeed characterized by positive progress toward greater inclusivity. Yet it was also a period of tension and often violence. Abroad, the Kennedy administration grappled with Cold War relations in Cuba and Vietnam. Johnson’s presidency included a still deeper and more controversial commitment to Vietnam as he mobilized US troops in Southeast Asia.

Also in this Module, students will explore the domestic impact of postwar events on the American people during the Cold War era. As the economy boomed, the population increased, new suburbs were built, and the nation expanded a consumer culture that produced major environmental challenges in a time of consensus, uniformity, conformity, materialism, and suburban security. People of color, however, often found themselves left out of postwar prosperity. A more highly structured era of social and technological change dominated the tone of the age. This chapter shows how such social phenomena as television, advertising, the birthrate, studies of sexual behavior, and clothing, as well as fast-food chains, can be used to understand the character of an age.

At home, activists experienced resistance to their efforts. Most infamously, White citizens who opposed racial equality bombed buses and assaulted protesters, often aided by local police officers. Employers hired new workers to replace the striking Mexican American and Filipino workers while newspapers sensationalized women seeking equal pay and bodily autonomy as bra-burning radicals. Even within their own ranks, civil rights movements disagreed about how best to accomplish their goals. Was a non-violent, moderate path the surest way to equality? Or was a degree of violence and radicalism the better way to respond to the long history of discrimination in the US?

The 1960s also matter because the decade prompts us to consider the complexity of any given time period. To tell the fullest, richest story of this period of US history, we need to grapple with the coexistence of progress and opposition, peace and violence, triumph and failure.

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