The Contours of America’s Cold War

382 Pages·2010·3.097 MB·English

by  Matthew Farish

THE CONTOURS OF AMERICA’S COLD WAR
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THE CONTOURS OF
AMERICA’S COLD WAR
Matthew Farish
University of Minnesota Press
Minneapolis
London
The University of Minnesota Press gratefully acknowledges the generous assis-
tance provided for the publication of this book from the University of Toronto
Faculty Association.
For publication information on previously published material in this book,
see pages 329–30.
Copyright 2010 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
Published by the University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520
http://www.upress.umn.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Farish, Matthew.
The contours of America’s Cold War / Matthew Farish.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8166-4842-9 (hc : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8166-4843-6
(pb : alk. paper)
1. United States—Civilization—1945– . 2. Cold War—Social aspects—
United States. 3. Atomic bomb—Social aspects—United States—History—
20th century. 4. Nuclear warfare—Social aspects—United States—History—
20th century. 5. Popular culture—United States—History—20th century.
6. War and society—United States—History—20th century. I. Title.
E169.12.F37 2010
973.918—dc22 2010038340
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
The University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and employer.
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Mom, Dad, Jill, and Paul
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION A History of Cold War Spaces ix
1 GLOBAL VIEWS
Geopolitics, Science, and Culture 1
2 REGIONAL INTELLIGENCE
The Militarization of Geographical Knowledge 51
3 ILLUMINATING THE TERRAIN
Social Science Finds Its Targets 101
4 THE CYBERNETIC CONTINENT
North America as Defense Laboratory 147
5 ANXIOUS URBANISM
Strategies for the Atomic City 193
CONCLUSION Into Space 239
Acknowledgments 251
Notes 255
Publication History 329
Index 331
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INTRODUCTION
A History of Cold War Spaces
Geographical knowledge—in its resistance to change and in its
effort to make sense of the world—has operated conservatively.
But it has also functioned conservatively in its service to and
defense of national power.
—susan schulten,The Geographical Imagination
in America, 1880–1950
In June 1959, on the eve of a trip to the Soviet Union (one that would fea-
ture the famous Kitchen Debate), American Vice President Richard Nixon
and his family joined Rear Admiral Charles C. Kirkpatrick of the U.S. Navy
on the first voyage of the world’s largest atomic submarine fleet. The tour
took them past a graveyard of sunken ships and led one reporter for the
Christian Science Monitor to exclaim that the spectacle was “sheer fun,
as though the real purpose of technological achievement, after all, was
human happiness.” Although the submarine project had been blessed by
the federal government and aided by General Dynamics, a manufacturer
of nuclear reactors, the purveyor of these amusements was Walt Disney,
and the site was the Tomorrowland section of Disneyland.1
The submarines were not Disney’s first atomic product. “Tomorrow-
land” was also a segment of Disney’s popular television program, and in
January 1957, the show had aired a feature titled Our Friend the Atom, a
combination of live action and animation sponsored by General Dynam-
ics. It was a promotional vehicle for Dwight Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace
campaign, launched by the president in December 1953 with a stirring
speech at the United Nations.2 On television, in the companion book, and
in a Tomorrowland exhibit at Disneyland, Our Friend the Atom explained
atomic energy in the terms of household technologies and the performance
of tasks, domesticating a destructive and arcane science.3 As the president
ix