Major Problems in American History Since 1945

294 Pages·2014·65.81 MB·English

by  Natasha Zaretsky, Mark Lawrence, Robert Griffith, Paula Baker

♦
MajoPrr oblienm s
MAJORP ROBLEMS INA MERICAWSNT ORY SERIES
An-iericHains tSoirnyc1 9e 4 5
GENERAL .EDITOR
DocumenatnsdE ssays
THOMAS G.P ATERSON
FOURTHE DITION
NATASHA ZARETSKY
SouthemI llinoisU niversity
MARK ATWOOD LAWRENCE
The Universiotyf Tex;i.s atA ustin
ROBERT GRIFFITH
AmericanU niversity
PAULA BAKER
The OluSot atUen iversity
�•C•E,N GAGE
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CENGAGE
Learning·
Major Problems in American
C> 2014, 2007, 2001 Cengage Learning
History Since 1945: Documents
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Natasha Zaretsky, Marl< Atwood ~opynght herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored or used
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PREFACE xiii
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ISBN-13: 978-1-133-94414-0 Chapter 1 The Origins of the Cold War Era 1
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1. Confronting the Implications of the Atomic Bomb,
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Locate your local office at www.cengage.com g 5. President Harry S. Truman Declares World Split
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ESSAYS 22
,'\llelvy11 P. Lr.ffeer • lncompatible Visions of the Postwar Era 23
Ellen Schrecker • Anriconununism at Home 38
FURTHER READING 47
V
vi CONTENTS CONTENTS vii
Chapter 2 The Consumer's Republic: Mass Culture, 2. The Supreme Court Rules on Bro11111 v. Board of Education,
Consumer Markets, and Identity in the 1950s SO 1954 130
3. Jo Ann Robinson Remembers the Montgomery Bus Boycott,
DOCUMENTS 51
1955 131
1. U.S. Business Celebrates the "Miracle of America," 1948 52
4. Anne Moody Describes a Sit-in 111 Jackson, Mississippi,
2. U.S. Nervs and World Report Assesses the Perils of Mass Culture May 28, 1963 133
and the Evils of Television, 1955 54
5. Malcolm X Explores the Philosophy of Black Nationalism,
3. 7-Up Appeals to the Teen Market, 1957 57 1964 136
4. Vance Packard Warns against the "Hidden Persuaders," 1957 58 6. The Black Panther Party Explains Its Goals and Beliefs,
1966 138
5. E. Franklin Frazier Critiques the Black Bourgeoisie, 1957 61
6. Advertisers Discover the African-American Urban Market, ESSAYS 141
1964 63 Charil's M. Payne • The View from the Trenches 141
ESSAYS 64 1110111/IS]. Sugrue • The Continuing Racial Crisis 152
Roland Marcliand • Visions of Classlessness 64 FURTHER READING 159
Uzaber/1 Cohen • Lessons in Class 74 Chapter 5 The Great Society and the Politics of
Liberal Reform 163
FURTHER READING 84
DOCUMENTS 164
Chapter 3 To the Brink: Berlin, Cuba, and the
1. Author Michael Harrington Calls Attention to Poverty,
Threat of Nuclear War 86
1962 165
DOCUMENTS 87 2. Activist Rachel Carson \Vams of Environmental Dangers,
957 88 1962 168
1. Whne House Committee Urges Military Build-up, 1
3. President Lyndon B. Johnson Announces His Program for a
2. President Dwight D. Eisenhower Wams of a
''Great Society," 1964 171
"Military-Industrial Complex," 1961 91
4. Landmark Legislation Targets Poverty, 1964 173
3. President John F. Kennedy Declares Sweeping Global
5. Ronald Reagan Wams of the Dangers of the Welfare State,
Ambitions, 1961 92
1964 178
4. Secretary of State Dean Rusk Examines U.S. Failures
6. A Great Society Official Remembers Promise and Problems,
at the Bay of Pigs, 1961 94 .
1966-1967 (1970) 180
- . . D terrninauon
:>. President John F. Ken11edy Declares Amencan e 7. The Vietnam War Conflicts with the Great Society, 1967 183
to Defend Berlin, 1961 96 98
. . c · · 1962 8. Comervative Strategist Kevin Phillips Hails an "Emerging
6. U.S. Leaders Debate Options during the M!SSile ns15, Republican Majonty," 1969 184
7. U.S. and Soviet Leaders Find a Fonnula to End the Cuban
ESSAYS 187
M1mk Crisis, 1962 104
Jn es T. P1111erso11 • The Heyday of Liber.tl Refonn 188
111
ESSAYS 107 t,,faurice Jssem11111 ,md l,,liclinel K11zi11 • The Limits of the Great
Crt>rgr C. Hrrring • Ideology and Ambition 107 Society 197
115
Ju/inn E. 7,e/izrr • Domestic Pressures for Toughness FURTHER READING 204
rtmTHFR READING 125 Chapter 6 The New Radicalism of the 1960s 207
. ii R.ightS
Chapter 4 Equality, Freedom, and Power: The Civ DOCUMENTS 208
Revolution 127 1. C. Wri~ht Milb Calls for a New Left, 1960 209
viii CONTENTS
CONTENTS i.:
2. Students for a Democratic Society Calls for a Profound 2. President Dwight D. Eisenhower Explains the Domino Theory
Reappraisal of American Society, 1962 211 1954 293
3. Timothy Leary Celebrates Drug Use, 1967 214 3. The Geneva Agreement Divides Vietnam into North and
South, 1954 294
4. Columbia University Students Explain Their Protest, 1968 217
4. A South Vietnamese Peasant Explains Why He Joined the
5. FBI Wages a Secret Campaign against the New Left, 1968-1971
Vietcong, 1961 (1986) 296
(1976) 219
5. President Lyndon Johnson's Advisers Debate Expanding the
6. Vice President Spiro T. Agnew Lashes Out at Radicals, War, 1965 297
1969 223 6. A Dissenter Dissects Liberalism, 1965 299
7. A Pollster Reports on "The Big Chill," 1974 225 7. A Soldier Remembers His Ordeal, 1967-1968 301
ESSAYS 226 8. Henry Kissinger Shares His Doubts with President Nixon,
1969 303
Jeremi Suri • The Sources of Radicalism 226
Hugh Heclo • The Sixties and the Origins of "Postmodern" ESSAYS 306
Micliael Lind• A Necessary War 306
America 235
Fredrik Logevall • An Avoidable Catastrophe 314
FURTHER READING 244
FURTHER READING 322
Chapter 7 From the Feminine Mystique to Women's
Chapter 9 A New Age of Limits: America and the
Liberation: Feminist Politics in the 1960s
World in the 1970s 325
and 1970s 247
DOCUMENTS 326
DOCUMENTS 248 ,.
1. Biologist Paul Ehrlich Describes the Coming Population
1. Betty Friedan Uncovers "The Problem That Has No Nanle,
Explosion, 1968 327
1963 249 2. Activist Carl Witm1an Issues a "Gay Manifesto," 1970 329
2
2. NOW lssues Its Statement of Purpose, 1966 25 2ss 3. Journalist Tom Wolfe Explores the "Mc Decade," 1976 331
1968
3. Margaret Cerullo Remembers an Illegal Abortion, 4. Phyllis Schlafly Explains What's Wrong with Equal Rights
4. Pauli Murray Argues that "Sex" Be lnclud e d 1· 0 Title Vil for Women, 1972 333
of the Civil Rights Act, 1964 257 5. President Nixon Addresses the Nation on Energy Shortages,
5. Feminists Speak Out against the Ml.S S An1 en. c a Pageant, 1973 336
1968 258 6. Time Magazine Editors Urge President Nixon to Resign,
1973 339
6. Radicalesbians Explore the Meaning of "The Woman
7. Two Local Residents Respond to the Nuclear Accident at
ldentified Woman," 1970 260
Three Mile Island, 1979 343
7. Black Feminists Speak Out, 1977 262
8. Evangelical Reverend Jerry Falwell Calls on Americans to
ESSAYS 266 Sc,: Retum to Biblical Morality, 1980 345
. . t Workplace
Na11cy Ma<L..e1111 • Title VII and the Fight agams ESSAYS 347
Discrimination 266 . z73 Jejfersc>n Cowie • Something's Happening to People Like Me 347
. . Radicalisnt
Alice Ec/10/s • Women's Liberation and S1xoes Meg J(l(obs • The Conservative Struggle and the Energy
Crisis 357
FURTH.ER READING 286
. . . rican power FURTHER READING 366
Chapter 8 Vietnam and the Cns1s of Ame
CONTENTS xi
X CONTENTS
Chapter 10 Politics and Popular Cultures of the 1980s 368 ESSAYS 427
Barry Ly1111 • Unmade in America: The True Cost of a Global
DOCUMENTS 369 Assembly Line 428
1. Americans Respond to the Iranian Hostage Crisis, 1980 370 Bethany Moreton • Service Work and the Service Ethos 436
2. Presidential Candidate Ronald Reagan Calls for New Economic
FURTHER READING 445
Policies, 1980 373
3. Jonathan Schell Describes a Nuclear Bomb Attack on New Chapter 12 The 1990s and the Search for Post-Cold War
York City, 1982 374 Priorities 447
4. President Reagan Proclaims America's "Spiritual DOCUMENTS 448
Reawakening," 1983 377
1. Political Theorist Francis Fukuyama Declares the "End of
5. Apple Introduces the First Macintosh Computer, 1984 378 History," 1989 449
6. Libertarian Political Scientist Charles Murray Describes the 2. President George H. W. Bush Calls for a New World Order,
Failures of the Welfare State, 1984 379 1990 452
7. A Gay R.ights Activist Responds to the AIDS 3. Political Scientist Sanrnel Hunnngton Predicts Turmoil and
Crisis, 1988 382 War, 1993 453
8. Environmentalist Bill McK.ibben Describes the End of Nature, 4. Senator Al Gore Calls for New Focus on the Environment,
1989 384 1992 456
5. Republicans Propose a "Contract with An1erica," 1994 457
ESSAYS 386
6. President Bill Clinton Wams against New Isolationism,
Melani McAlister • Iran, Islam, and the Terrorist Threat 386
1995 459
Bradford Martin • The Shock Troops of Direct Action: ACT UP
7. President Clinton Ends "Welfare as We Know It," 1996 462
Confronts the AIDS Crisis 395
8. American Voters Split by Income, Education, Race, 2000 464
FURTH.ER READING 406
ESSAYS 465
Chapter 11 La C • Haynes Jol,11s011 • A Paradoxical Age 465
te ap1talism and the Rise of Globalization:
Work, Labor, and Inequality in the New Hal Brands • Searching for a New Glob.ii Role 474
Century 409
FURTHER READING 487
DOCUMENTS 410
Chapter 13 A Post-Racial America or a New Jim Crow?
1. New Democr.its Hail the New Economy, 1998 411
Contemporary Debates about Race, Ethnicity,
2
-Soaa] Critic B b El · rt
2001 ar ar.i 1renre1ch Describes Working at Walma ' and Immigration 490
413
3. Americans for D . DOCUMENTS 491
and In _,. emocraoc Acnon Reports Growing PovertY
equ...,,ty, 2004 416 I. Immigrants Come to America, 1900-2010 493
4. An lmnugrant Ga~ ;enc 2. Proposition 187: Califomians Seek to Close the Door to
Sweatshop, 2001 4 Worker Describes the Contemporary Undocumented lnunigrants, 1994 494
5. Nobel Wm111ng Eco . . ·ns 3. A Pakistani lnuuigrant Becomes a Suspect after 9/ 11,
of the 2008 F . nonmt Paul Krugman Explores the Ongt 2005 495
manna] Crisis, 2009 421
c,. The New York C 4. A Survivor Recalls Hurricane Katrina, 2005 497
Movement lssu. ity General Assembly of the Occupy 5. Congressman Gary Miller Calls for Stricter Immigration
7 . cs a Declar.inon, 2011 423
TTie New York r Legislation, 2006 500
Facton,-s wh A lllles Exposes Working Conditions of Chinese
ere pplc: Produces Arc Assembled, 2012 425
xii CONTENTS
6. Senator Barack Obama Calls for a More Perfect Union,
2008 502
7. A Canoonist Satirizes Anti-Obama Stereotypes, 2008 508
8. Eighteen-Year-Old Ola Kaso Provides Testimony on the
Dream Act, June 28, 2011 509
ESSAYS 510
George). Sancl1ez • Race, Immigration, and Nativism 511
Preface
Heather A1111 TI10111pso11 • Why Mass Incarceration Matters:
Rethinking Crisis, Decline, and Transfom1ation in Postwar
American History 518
FURTHER READING 526
Chapter 14 The United States in the World since 9/11 529
DOCUMENTS 530
Historians are often skeptical of "watersheds." That is, they question the exis
1. Osama bin Laden Declares Jihad against An1erica, 1998 53 l tence of unique moments or turning points that draw clear lines of demarcation
2. President George W. Bush Examines Sources of Anti between historical eras, between "before" and "after." Instead, historims tend to
Americanism, 2001 533 highlight currents that run deeper and flow across alleged breaking points. It
3. The Dush Administration Declares a New National Security seems beyond dispute, however, that the United States entered a decidedly
new era in 1945. Coming out of World War II with unparalleled military, polit
Strategy, 2002 535
ical, and economic power, the United States in the early postwar years produced
4-Senator Robert C. l3yrd Charges "The Emperor Has No more than half of the world's manufactured goods, accounted for more than
Clothes," 2003 538
40 percent of the world's income, possessed an ideology with broad appeal to
5· An Army Officer Ponders the Fight for Hearts and Minds in peoples throughout the globe, and held a monopoly on atomic weapons. The
Iraq, 2004 539 nation thus emerged for the first time as a global superpower, a breakthrough
6· U.S. Department of Justice Authorizes CIA to Use Harsh that would shape not only the subsequent history of the United States but also
the larger history of the postwar world.
Interrogation Methods, 2005 543
This sea change raises a host of questions for the historian of the modem
7
· Anlericans Face Competing Pnorities at Home and Abroad, period. What did Americans choose to do with their nation's vast power? How
2010 548
did the dominant place of the United States on the world stage shape not only
8· Defense Department Foresees New National Securiry An1erican foreign policy but also the social, cultural, and political life of the
Threats, 201 O 548 nation? In what ways did An1ericans reap the rewards of expanded U.S. power
and prosperity, and in what ways did they challenge the hegemonic assumptions
ESSAYS 55\
that accompanied this expansion? What was the relationship between American
l\'iall Fer- guso11 • The Benefits of a Liberal Empire 551 hegemony and domestic stmggles over race, gender, and rights? How did the fall
TTio111as L F · d . . of the Soviet Union, the end of the Cold War, and the transfom1ation of the
· ne ma11 a11d Michael Ma11clelbau111 • Demesne
D ysfun · United States into a lone superpower revise the nation's place in the world
coons and An1erican Decline 562
after 1989? Finally, has American power declined or simply been reinvented in
FURTHER. READING 573 the midst of the recurring upheavals of the last four decades-terrorist attacks,
grueling wars, painful economic recessions and financial meltdowns, political
polarization, and energy and environmental crises?
Our aim in this volume is not to offer definitive answers to any of these
questions. The very contemporaneity of the issues under discussion means that
xiii
PREFACE xv
• PREFACE
~ that the rivalry sprang from complex sources that defy easy generalizations.
xiv . . usive at least for now and likely for a long Melvyn P. Leffler examines international sources of the Cold War, while Ellen
definitive interprecaoons renum el d ' tested nature of the recent past--as well
Schrecker explores the rise of anticommunism wiiliin the United States. Chapter 2
time to come. But the elusiveness an c:1 ds and controversies-makes the
turns to the emergence of a mass consumer-based society in the 1950s, exploring
as its obvious relationship to present-_a l tren_ . g and dynamic and lends itself
the fantasies and limits of postwar middle-class consumption, the creation of a
field of U.S. history since 1945 espbelc1 y e~astmOur aim with this new edition
segmented marketplace, and how Americans' relationship to consumer society
h MaJ· or Pro ems sene . f h t
particularly we ll tot e . . ince 1945 is to highlight some o t e mos differed along lines of race, class, and culture. Returning to foreign policy,
of Major Problems in Amenca11 History s. . h field and to encourage readers Chapter 3, featuring recent works by George C. Herring and Julian E. Zelizer,
illuminating and vigorous debates Wlthm t e ( American history since examines the reasons why the Cold War grew strikingly more dangerous in the
to think for themselves about the broad contours o ing body of historians
late 1950s and early 1960s, culminating in major U .S.-Soviet confrontations over
World War 11. Taking our inspiration fron) anh ever to: the post-1945 period, Berlin and then Cuba. Chapter 4 is devoted to the mid-twentieth century Civil
(some of whose scholarship is reflected here w o w;:t attempt to bring together Rights Revolution. Its essays by Charles Payne and Thomas Sugrue focus on
we have selected a series ~f essays _and d~cum:dts olitical economy in innovative local grassroots activism rather than the nationally prominent leaders and organi
the themes of culture, soaety, foreign policy, a pd . . them to leam more. zations that have dominated narratives of the movement, while the documents
ways that will spark the curiosi~ of our_~ eade~ an msp;~ ways. First, it updates highlight the prominent role African-American women played in the struggle, as
This volume builds on preVlOUS editions m two c~ ld holanhip with well as the rise of black power.
its coverage of the first postwar decades by replacmCg o . ter tsc with this goal, Chapter 5 explores the roots of controversies iliac continue to reverberate
• ecent years ons1s en
newer innovative work s pub lishe d m r . th d tail with the new through American politics in the twenty-first century. The essays and documents
this edition also contains numerous fresh documents at o~e d . ce the 1960s explore why liberalism, emphasizing government-led solutions to major social
essays Second the book exten ds i•t s cons1· d erat ion of the npfei no . sm thers In thi.s problems, triumphed in the early 1960s, but also why liberal refonn programs
O
· · ' · h d b cantially reco gunng · . d came under attack almost as soon as they were enacted. Chapter 6 goes further
by adding rwo entirely new c apters an su s . d th t has receive
way' this edition devotes far more attention to the 1970s, a peno th: eriod since in addressing the latter question, examining why radicals rejected the liberals'
faith in moderate refornusm during the 1960s and 1970s and called, wiili notably
especially notable scholarly scrutiny in t~e last_ ~ew yeax:s, and to e- Jarcers of the
th little success, for a far more sweeping overhaul of American society. New mate
the end of the Cold War than did the third edition. All m all, re . q d' . n
for this e 1r0° · rial in Chapter 7 suggests that the feminist movement of tl1e 1960s and 1970s
essays and more than 60 percent of the documents are new "bl f, the first
was not a single movement, but rather was made up of multiple movements
ln addition, two new editors have joined the team responSI ~ r elected
with their own tactics and goals. Women's liberation and women's rights were
three editions Sadly Robert Griffith passed away in 201 l. Paula ~ e Illinois
two distinct articulations of fe1ninism, and activists struggled to understand the
to retire fro~ the p;oject. Consequently, Natasha Zaretsky of SouUt ~":rsity of
relationship between sexism, racism, and homophobia. Chapter 8 focuses on
L of the n1v f
University at Carbondale and Mark Atwoo d awrence rb work o the Vietnam War, which profoundly reshaped American politics and foreign pol
Texas at Austin were invited to come aboard and build on the supe
icies. Essays by political essayist Michael L~1d and historian Fredrik Logevall
their predecessors. . . 1d ocher address above all why Americans believed a little-understood country on the far
ln other respects, this book closely resembles earlier . edinon~ ;:ncroduc side of the world was so important to U.S. interests, and whether they were right
entries in the Major Problems series. Each chapter begins with a b~e tion-We to believe as they did.
tory essay designed to orient readers to the major issues under consi e~ the past The remaining five chapters of the book focus on the period since I 968.
111
t11 en present a handful of documents that highlight h ow 1· 11 d1"v idualhs scholars A new chapter analyzes the 1970s as the decade when the postwar boom came
thought about the problems that confronted them and to sugg~st 0~ chapter to a close and many Americans were forced to confront an era of economic,
can dnw different interpretations from reading me same matenal. Eac . ns of, a political, and environmental limits. The end of postwar expansion contributed
h . rp~~ to ilie growing influence of the conservative movement, a theme explored
t en offers two essays mat lay out different approaches to, or mte present
from two different vantage points by historians Jefferson Cowie and Meg Jacobs.
key historical problem presented in iliac chapter. In some cases, ilie essis wer bY
O Chapter 10, "Political and Popular Cultures of the 1980s," moves readers away
conflicting points of view, while in omers me essays complemen~ eac fi further
analyzing different aspects of the problem in question. Suggesnons 0;ers w·h0 from an exclusive focus on Ronald Reagan (whose transfomutive presidency
often domi11ates accounts of the decade) and toward other significant but often
r~ding at the end of each chapter provide additional resources for rea
overlooked aspects of the 1980s: the nuclear freeze movement, the advent of the
wish to delve further into particular topics. . i5ed bY
personal computer, and the AIDS crisis. Chapter 11 turns to the ways that
Like earlier editions, this book begins by addressing classic lSSues ~ world
globalization has rransfonncd the experience of work for many Americans, as
An . ' . . tl1 wake o nd
ienca s rue as a global economic and military power 111 e rn?Vr beY05 /
War 11. Chapter 1, focusing on the emergence of the Cold War, 5CJ1ce
old debates about who was to blan1e--the Soviet Union or me Unite ggestiPg
for the EaSl-West antagonism, emphasizing instead recent research su
JC\; PREFACE
CHAPTER 1
service and information-based jobs have replaced the industri~l work of the e~rly
twentieth centuty. Chapter 12 focuses on the 1990s, a decade m wh~ch the ~n~t~d
States confronted the profound question of how to reconfigure national pnon~es
following the Cold War. Essays and documents address parallel debates ~o~cemmg
foreign and domestic policies. In Chapter 13, we explore the contrad1cuons ~at
characterize racial politics in the contempo~~ U_nited Sta_t~s. The year ~OOS (~:
°
nessed something many believed was a political 1mposs1bihty: the elecaon t
. . h h • ys by George
nation's first African-Amencan president. But t e c apter s essa . The Origins of the Cold War Era
Sanchez and Heather Ann Thompson suggest that ~is move_toward ~-ctal ~ro~:
een undermined by other troubling trends m Amencan political hfe.
has b
. . f · · · d g states
scapegoaong of immigrants, the heightened vulnerability o mmonues uru_1 d
of emergency, and the staggen. ng rates o fm" carcerau-on among African An1encan an.
Latino men. Finally, Chapter 14 delves into the nation's response to the c~taclys~uc
terrorist attacks of September 11 2001 an event t h at sI 1 0ck e d Amencans m. to
' . ' . b ks by histonan Gem1any's fi1U1I defeat i11 the spring of 1945 erided a11 era in tvhicl, E11ropea11 11ations had
focusing anew on international affiurs. Selecttons from recent oo
. . . . d th la .t ing in collabora- do111i11ated tvorld politics 1hro11gh their vast colonial empires a11d co111111ercial 11et111orks. TTre
N1all Ferguson and Journalist Thomas L. Fne man, e tter wn ts U11ited States a11d tire Soviet U11io11 took tire lead i11 the 11e111 era. TT,e United States,
tion with political scient~t Michael Mandelbaum, offer sharply different asse;:;r•:0 tvhic/1 alone a111011g the great powers /rad escaped the devastation of tvar 011 its 01v,i soil,
of U.S. choices to undertake wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and, more gene y,
was i11 1945 u11questio11ably the most pou1e,f11I 11atio11 in the world, a11d the prospect of a
play an unprecedentedly ambitious role on the international stage. ress
11e111 America11-led tvorld-tvhat 111agazi11e publisher Henry Luce /rad called a11 A111erica11
A project like this inevitably requires teamwork, and we are eager to exp U
. • d Above a • cent11ry--see111ed realistic. TI1e U.S. S.R., although it /rad sr!.ffered e11on11011s losses during
our gratitude to numerous individuals who helped m myna wl ays. htful con1 - the war, re111ai11ed the most powerful 111ilitary presence 011 the European co11tine111, a11d
we would like to thank the readers who provided extremely t 1oug d this propelled by its 011111 lristory a11d ideology, soon challenged A111erica11 leadership. Tire
mentary on the third edition and offered helpful advice that _has _sh~p~ cey co1if/ict betwee11 these two powerful 11atio11s, 111/rat ca111e to be called tire Cold I-Var, would
book in innumerable ways: Kathy Cooke, Quinnipiac Umversi_ty, Wra en 1101 only shape i11tematio11al relatio1is for the 11e."(/ forty-five years but 111,mld also deeply
Deutsch, University of Minnesota; Mustafa Gokcek, Niagara Univ.ersity; lalrrge· affect both 11atio11s' political, econo111ic, a11d mlwral life.
· Coe •
Goldstein, University of Hartford; Jason Newman, Cosumnes River lt 77re Cold War began i11 Europe, just as it would e11d there 111ore t/ra11 four decades
Ellen Salzman-Fiske, University of Hartford; James Spiller, The Coll;fa lso later witlr the fall of the Ber/i11 Wall. It was in Europe that tire U.S. visio11 of a posttvar
Brockport, SUNY; and David Valone, Quinnipiac University. We woud oin- world of A111erica11-led 1111tio1is ra11 up against tire Soviet U11io11 's fears for its 011111 scc11rity
lik e to tha nk agam· the many readers who provided helpful suggesu· ons an c /cer a11d its deten11i11atio11 to refashion m11c/1 of Eastem Europe in its 011111 i111age. B111 Cold
ments on the first three editions· Numan V Barley Laura A. Belmonte, R O War te1isio11s spilled far beyond Europe by the late 1940s, e11velopi11g first tire Easten,
Biles, William Brinker, Mark S. 0Byn1es Rodney C~rlisle, Jeff Charles, Franb g. Medite"a11e1111 1111d the Middle East a11d 1/re11 East a11d So111/reast Asia. Above all, the
C 'gli la , . . , . 1 Green er , outbreak of the Korean War in ]mre 1950 sig11aled that East-I-Vest co1,fro11t11tio11 had
osti o , John D Emilio, Gregory Field, Richard M. Fned, Chety Nonnall
Samuel Hand, Susan Hartmann, James Hilty, Caroline Hoetferle, pach, become global. Yet the Cold War was 1101 011ly 11 military 11111/ diplo111atic c/1111/e11ge for
1/1e U11ited States. Fears of co1111111111is111 also escalated 111ithi11 the 1111tio11 's borders, givi11g
Markowitz, Gary May, Philip I. Mitterling, Mary Beth Norton, Cheste:li W
Pam Pennock, Thomas G. Ryan Dav1·d F Schmitz John Sharpless, Pht p 11 rise i11 the late 1940s a11d early 1950s to 11 period of i11te1ise a11xiety about com1111111ist mul
Wark ' · · ' pacers 0 ' 'Jellow travelers" subverti11g the U11ited States from 111ithi11.
en, aud Theodore A Wilson. We also wish to thank Thomas G. d rfiil
the General Edit f M . . . . • . the won e TTrere is 1111 e11on11ous a11101111t of lristorical literawre 011 the early years of the Cold
or o t I1 e aJor Problems III Amencan History senes, j\Jtll War, filled 111it/1 co1if/icti11g i11te,pretatio11S. Was co,iflict precipirated by a11 aggressive 1111d
~oup at C~ngage Leaming Qeffrey P. Greene, Senior Produ~t Manag:sitioll
exp111isio11ist U.S.S.R., as 111osr early "orthodox" i11te,pretatio11s of tire Cold I-Var
eSc.' ~ociate Content Developer Megan Chrisman, Senior Rights Acq_ Wise,
i11sisred? Or, as farer ge11eratio1rs of "revisio11ist" historians /rave 111g11ecl, 111,rs tire U11ited
st
Speciah Jennifer Meyer Dare and Product Assistant Liz Fraser); Te~ ager
11we Stares, i11 its efforts to mate a post111ar world t!Ult reflected its oum i11tercsts, also rcspo11sible?
0,~r ~evel~prnent editor; and from PreMediaGlobal, Senior Project a Wlrat were the sources of U.S. policy? Domestic politics? A 11eed to sewre forl'ig11
1..... tin Thuumalai d T . . Janssens-
are also t.n debt d an ext Pennissions Proiect Manager l{ri.sane o f .,-~-,aS 31 111arkers? Strategic 111111 geopolitical co11sidemtio11s? W/1111 role did 111isperceptio11 play i11
. e to our colleagues and co-wJ orkers at the Uru• ve~·-n,1 . bl.o..o,. \' 10 shaping U.S. awl So vier respo11ses? To 111/,at e• .. ;te11t did allies a11d clie111s s11«esif11lly
Au stm and South lllin • . d. e chis
em 015 Umversity at Carbondale. We de icat U ge 11 1
our stu.d ents' wh 0 t I1 rough their curiosirv and passion constant IY cha e1 1
to rec hink the ·,
contours of the n:cent past.
THE ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR ERA 3
2 CHAPTER I
communism." It also led to a massive expansion of the U.S. military and other
, ....... , Could rite Cold War l1ave been avoided, or its enormous costs
m· anI euv1e·r tJie dgr·ser,oi rtpeodw ~p•ri0o• rities and political regression somehow r111• n11• 11. 1• zed •' i,v,1 Y d1'd bureaucracies concerned with national security. In April 1950, the president's
A"'m eorsict an,vse fse,a r 1 rommw11s•1 11 so 1'. 11ten.sely, and what were t I1 e ':.,IuT.e lts 0~r r·. he "red scare" 011 aNdavtiisoenrsa ll aSiedc uoruitty tCheo urnatciiol npaalep efro 6r 8s,u ochr Na SbCu-i6ld8- u(pD oincu am ednotc u7)m. eTnht ek onuotwbnre aaks
American society? of the Korean War on June 25, 1950, only heightened pervasive anxiety in the
United States about communism and encouraged "red hunters" such as
McCarthy, who stepped up their efforts to rout out subversives. Among the
♦ DOCUMENTS Americans who resisted congressional investigations into communist activities in
the United States was Lillian Hellman, an essayist and screenwriter known for
the end of May 1945 the United States was well on its way to conStnJCting her left-wing views. Document 8 is a letter that Hellman sent on May 19,
By
' h · that con- 1952, to John Wood, the chairman of the House Committee on Un-American
an atomic bomb a stunning technological achievement. T e queStlOns_ b
Activities, objecting to demands that she testify about radicalism in Hollywood.
fronted Ameri~ leaders were whether and how to use the bomb m com at
. ft G 's surrender on
a=in<t Japan America's only ma•or adversary a er errnany .
Mba-y -9, and w• hether to share info~ rmation about t~e weapon wi· th t h e SoWviaert 1. Confronting the Implications
Union which was allied with the United States during the Second Worl~ of the Atomic Bomb, May 1945
1
but lo~med as a potential rival for global power after the end of the fightt~g-;
The Secretary [of War Henry L. Stimson) expressed the view, a view shared by
Document 1 a summary of a meeting held on May 31, top officials m ~
' 'al d ·gh the genera (Army ChiefofStafl] General [George C.) Marshall, that this project should not
Truman administration ponder those cruc1 matters an wet th
· f A bombs on e be considered simply in terms of military weapons, but as a new relationship of
significance of the new weapon. The eventua1 d roppmg O - al man to the universe. This discovery might be compared to the discoveries of the
Japanese cm· ·e s o f Hu· -osLm:m_a_ an d N agasa lei m· ear1 Y A u gust--a monu:m. ie;n otr - Copernican theory and of the laws of gravity, but far more important than these
display of American power-unquestionably antagonized Mosco~· 1'.'1ore for in its effect on the lives of men. While the advances in the field to date had been
tant causes of U.S.-Soviet tension, however, were sharply conflicnng ~ US fostered by the needs of war, it was important to realize that the implications of
the future of Germany and Eastern Europe. On February 22, 1946, semofr : ; the project went far beyond the needs of the present war. It must be controlled
. I f · nber o seni0
d1p omat George F. Kennan voiced the concerns o a growmg nut n" if possible to make it an assurance of future peace rather than a menace to
U.S. officials in what would come to be known as the "Long Tet rviet civilization ....
(Document 2). Kennan's warnings about the unchangeable nature O I" 0 of [Physicist] Dr. (Ernest O.] Lawrence expressed his great appreciation for
hostility to the West quickly became the basis for the emerging U.S. P0 ,cy the fact that the leaders of the Government had been willing to take the
containment. d chances inherent in the development of this program. He expressed a view
Not everyone agreed with Kennan. In July 1946, Secretary o fCo nun erce )a nc o that if the United States were to stay ahead in this field it was imperative
3
fom1er Vice President Henry A. Wallace appealed to Truman (Docu~en~hell that we knew more and did more than any other country. He felt that
research had to go on unceasingly ....
reverse what Wallace believed was the warlike drift of U.S. pohcy, J •d
Walla ce delivered a speech that same month, repeating the poi·n ts he ·1e~ cs In considering the problem ofc ontrols and international collaboration the ques
n1 3d e m· h1' s Ie tter, Truman unceremoniously fired him. Meanwh ile , che S.0 "1rh e tion of paramount concern was the attitude of Russia. [Physicist] Dr. 0-Robert]
10 Oppenheimer pointed out that Russia had always been very friendly to science
were reaching conclusions that mirrored those of American leaders, as co
h . . 'k sent and suggested that we might open up this subject with them in a tentative fashion
report t at the Soviet an1bassador in Washington, Nikolai Novi ov, 947,
12 1 and in the most general tenns without giving them any details of our productive
Moscow on September 27, 1946 (Document 4). On March • . d
311 effort. He thought we might say that a great national effort had been put into this
T~man publicly announced the Truman Doctrine, calling for economic port
project and express a hope for cooperation with them in this field. He felt
military · · · co sup
.. assmance to suppress a rebellion in Greece and pro1111sing rine strongly that we should not prejudge the Russian attitude in this matter.
free peo I " th h T n Qoct
P es roug out the world (Document 5). The ruma · ns, At this point General Marshall discussed at some length the story of charges
marked. _a 1113J· 0r de parture in the history of American forei·g n_ re1 a tt 0en- and counter-charges that have been typical of our relations with the Russians,
com. nuttmg the U m'te d S tates to an expans.i ve new di. plomacy. The 1111P1 e rr 1 co pointing out that most of these allegations have proven unfounded. The seemingly
tauon of the T D . b Id progt"l' 111 .
. ruman octnne was quickly followed by a O hel1 1.JI
aid the economic reconstruction of Europe--the Marshall Plan-and c
1949 "Not" of the lntcnm Commi11ce Mccung," May 31, 1945, 111 Micluel D. Scolf,Jomdt•n F. F•nton,
by the No_rth Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). . of anr.i· and R. Hal Willi,.ms. eels., n,, Ma11/UJJta11 Projm (New York: McGr:1w Hui, 1991), pp. 105-120.
The _new . diplomacy was accompanied by a srrident new poliC'f Joseph
cMom Cm umh sm m·· whi ch R epub lic an conservatw. es sue h as Sena. tor ''soft o1 1
c art Y (Document 6) accused the Truman administration of being
THE ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR ERA 5
4 CHAPTER 1
. f It was agreed that nothing could be done about dismissing these men until after
. . . ·n mili matters stemmed from the necessity o
~cunr the bomb has actually been used or, at best, until after the test has been made.
un~oo~~nve atn_rud~°!~ :;a: he h~ccepted this reason for their attitude in
After some publicity concerning the weapon was out, steps should be taken to
~lll~lllg Russians and had acted accordingly. As to the post-w~_s1tua sever these scientists from the program.
his dealin~ with 1 iili he felt that he was in no pos1non to
tion and m_matters_o ther than P~ Y/ld :1~as inclined to favor the buil~g _up
express a VJew. With regard to this e . . fall m line 2. U.S. Diplomat George F. Kennan Warns
. . lik . ded powers thereby forcmg Russia to
of a combmatton amo~g e~?un , all was certain that we need have of an hnplacable Enemy, 1946
::~t'. .
by the very force of this coalinon. General Marsh f . t would disclose chis
no fear that the Russians, if they had knowledge ~ our ~ ght be desirable At bottom of Kremlin's neurotic view of world affairs is traditional and instinctive
infonnation to the Japanese. He raised the quesnon w e er 1 rm Russian sense of insecurity. Originally, this was insecurity of a peaceful agricultural
. · · · ·m ess the test. people trying to live on vast exposed plain in neighborhood of fierce nomadic peo
to invite two prorrunent RuSSlaJl sc1ennsts to W1 if .n fom1atio11
Mr. [Secretary of State James F.] Byrnes expressed a fe~r that ld1 k to be ples. To this was added, as Russia came into contact with economically advanced
. · al t nm Stalm wou as west, fear of more competent more powerful, more highly organized societies in
were given to the Russians, even m g~ner e '. like! in view of
that area. But this latter type of insecurity was one which afflicted rather Russian
brought into the partnership. He felt this to be parncul~l~ I y h' connec
. · h the Bnt1Sh n t is rulers than Russian people; for Russian rulers have invariably sensed that their rule
our commitments and pledges • of coopef rahn onu w si t Office of Sc·1. ent ifi c Research was relatively archaic in form, fragile and artificial in its psychological foundation,
tion Dr. (Vannevar] Bush [( Director o t e · · of our
and Development)] pointed out that even t h e B. n·t l·S h d. o not haevnee raanllyy agreed unable to stand comparison or contact with political systems of western countries.
For this reason they have always feared foreign penetration, feared direct contact
blue prints on plants. Mr. Byrnes expressed the view, which was g h I d as fast
between western world and their own, fe.ared what would happen if Russians
to by all present, that the most desirable program would be to pus ahiead and at
learned truth about world without or if foreigners learned truth about world
as possible in production and research to make ce~in that ~e s::it~ ~ussia .... within. And they have learned to seek security only in patient but deadly struggle
the same time make every effort to better our polittcal relations be much for total destmction of rival power, never in compacts and compromises with it.
. b b enal would not
It was pointed out th.at one atoffilc om on an a~ diJUensions. It was no coincidence that Marxism, which had smouldered ineffectively for
different from the effect caused by any Air Corps strike of present . bombing half a century in Western Europe, caught hold and blazed for first time in
However, Dr. Oppenheimer stated that the visual effect of an_ at;:~unescence Russia. Only in this land which had never known a friendly neighbor or indeed
would be tremendous. It would be accompanied by a brillian ffect of the any tolerant equilibrium of separate powers, either internal or international,
which would rise to a height of 10,000 to 20,?00 feet. The neutro~; of a ,niJe. could a doctrine thrive which viewed economic conflicts of society as insoluble
explosion would be dangerous to life for a radius of at least two-thir h etfect5 to by peaceful means. After establishment of Bolshevist regime, Marxist dogma,
Meer much discussion conceming various types of targets and t el ., there rendered even more tmculent and intolerant by Lenin's interpretation, became
be produced the Secretary [of War] expressed the cone1 u s1• on, on w11 . 11g · [11at a perfect vehicle for sense of insecurity with which Bolsheviks, even more than
• wan11n • previous Russian rulers, were affiicted. In this dogn1a, with its basic altmism of
was general agreement, that we could not give the Japanese any k to rnake a
purpose, they found justification for their instinctive fear of outside world, for
we could not concentrate on a civilian area; but that we should see sib}e. },C
. h b' ts as pos the dictatorship without which they did not know how to mle, for cmekies
profound psychological impression on as many of the m a itan . pefense
1 they did not dare not to inflict, for sacrifices they felt bound to demand. In the
the suggestion of Dr. Dames B.] Conant [(Chairman of the Nationa ry greed
3 name of Marxism they sacrificed every single ethical value in their methods and
Research Committee and president of Harvard University)] the _Sec:e~rge 11u111- tactics. Today they cannot dispense with it. It is fig leaf of their moral and intel
that the most desirable target would be a vital war plant employmg
lectual respectability. Without it they would stand before history, at best, as only
ber of workers and closely surrounded by workers' houses. ral strikes at the last of that long succession of cruel and wasteful Russian rulers who have
There was some discussion of the desirability of attempting se~e would bt relentlessly forced country on to ever new heights of military power in order
the _same ume. Dr. Oppenheimer's judgrnent was that several stnkes b ,vever'. to guarantee external security of their internally weak regimes. This is why
0
feasible. [Manhanan Project director] General [Leslie R.] Gro_ves, b·ecci01i5· Soviet purposes must always be solemnly clothed in trappings of Marxism, and
O
expressed doubt about this proposal and pointed out the folloWlng ~,,ernii•S why no one should underrate imponancc of dogma in Soviet affairs ....
(1) W 1 dge coi · a
e would lose the advantage of gaining additional know e id reqi.ure
theh w ·e abp on at each successive bombing·' (2) such a program· hwto ut h er efore, /l~l• nw document can be found in U.S. Depirtmem ofSme, Fomgn Rel,,ions of the United St•tes,
rus Jo on the pan of those assembling the bombs and nug ' egula! 1946, fa.stem Europe: The Soviet Union (W:ishington, D.C.: Government Prinaug Office, 1969), VI,
· ffi · fr our r
me ecnve; (3) the effect would not be sufficiently distinct orn . ~ 699-701, 706-707.
Force bombing progra111 . - ,ept10
· ·" · 1tS I 11 )!)'
General Groves stated th.at the program has been plagued sulce riaiJ1 JoY3
by the presence of cenain scientists of doubtful discretion and unce