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
4) Public schools would even have
nuclear war drills
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 anticommunist 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
Cold War Spies
1) Alger Hiss
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
 The Hampton Roads area is home
to several large naval and air bases
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
VS.
A) Eisenhower’s Vice President,
Richard Nixon (Rep.) ran against
John F. Kennedy (Dem.)
Election of 1960
1) This election had the first televised
debates in history and it played a major
role in the election
Election of 1960
&
President
Vice President
B) Kennedy won the election
(Lyndon B. Johnson was his Vice Pres.)
Pres. Kennedy and the Cold War
C) Kennedy became president in 1961
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
1) Germany had been divided into east
and west since the end of WWII
The Berlin Wall
2) The city of Berlin (In East Germany) had
also been divided between the Allies
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
The Berlin Wall (1961)
KENNEDY AND CUBA
Cuban Revolution
1) Fidel Castro led a communist
revolution that took over Cuba in the
late 1950s
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)
1) President Kennedy (a WWII
veteran) was assassinated in 1963
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
(An extremely divided American public)
6) Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson
became President in 1963 (Democrat)