Abstract This paper explains that the Cold War began as WWII was ending when, at Yalta in 1945, the principal allies, which included the Soviet Union, England and the United States, were dividing up the spoils. The author points out that a profound result of the Cold War was seen in domestic politics in America, as the politics of anticommunism rather than the politics of liberalism emerged to dominate American political life through the demagoguery of the junior U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, Joe McCarthy. The paper relates that the hippie movement of the 1960s was a reaction and a protest against the Cold War, the nuclear build-up of the superpowers, and the "military establishment".
Table of Contents
Origins and Background
Beginning and Issues
Foreign and Domestic Policy Initiatives
McCarthyism
Civil Rights Movement
Anti-War Movement
From the Paper "Poland was a prize that the Soviets wanted because of its geographical proximity to the Soviet Union. But for England and France, both of whom had declared war on Germany after Hitler invaded Poland, the thought of another "totalitarian country in control of Poland" was "unthinkable." And so this was the first crisis of the new Cold War: in fact, during the Yalta conference in February 1945, the Red Army of the Soviet Union already occupied Poland, so, what was Roosevelt to do - go to war with Stalin, right after the American and the Soviets had fought together to defeat Nazism?"
This paper describes Philip Caputo's autobiographical narrative of his involvement in the Vietnam War, "A Rumor of War" (1977), in its Cold War context.
Abstract The author argues that Caputo's preoccupation with seemingly universal attributes of (male) human nature and essential moral qualities is inconsistent with the few passages in which he acknowledges the specific political context of the conflict. The conclusion is that Caputo was so successfully indoctrinated by the Cold War ideological system that even his disillusionment with the war did not allow him to depict the functioning of that system in his own life.
From the Paper "From the foundation of the Soviet Union in 1917 through until the Gorbachev era, America's elites were frankly obsessed with the specter of communism. What was essentially at issue during the Cold War was the possibility of an alternative social and economic order to capitalism emerging and proving it viable. What communists promised to create was a social and economic order that offered its people as much in material terms as capitalism, if not more, but without the latter's exploitation of the working classes and its vulnerability to periodic busts and depressions."
Abstract This paper reviews, discusses and analyzes Ellen Schrecker's book, 'The Age of McCarthyism'. According to the paper, the book discusses how anticommunism moved "to the ideological center of American politics" and how America lost its own central convictions of the importance of freedom, democracy, and civil liberties.
From the Paper "Anti-communism was not simply a product of mass, cultural hysteria. It also provided a practical foundation for many politicians' emerging careers. For example, as early as the smaller 'Red Scare' of 1919-20, J. Edgar Hoover made his name and solidified his institutional base within the Department of Justice by rounding up suspected foreign communists. Later, these ideologues and Hoover loyalists within the F.B.I would allow Hoover to conduct illegal wiretaps, and commit other civil liberties violations, with the power of the F.B.I. Richard Nixon first came to national prominence during the Alger Hiss trials. And McCarthy himself was a relatively obscure senator, until he began to wave his famous lists in the air. President Truman, despite the fact he held the highest office in the land, may have oversold the communist threat, to gain the necessary funds from the Republican-dominated congress for his postwar agenda and to prove himself worthy of the legacy of F.D.R."
Tags: Cold, War, domestic, liberal, reforms, Great, Depression, radicalism
Abstract The paper notes that Lyndon Baines Johnson was a southern President with a Texas accent and in some ways he exemplified the stereotypical Texan. The paper attempts to link his social identity as a Texan with his liberal political views, and questions how closely connected his liberal politics were to his persona as a Texan. The paper discusses the fact that, as a senator from Texas, he had to be involved in Texas politics and to be concerned about voter issues in Texas, but it would be hard to prove that he agreed with the social and political views of his fellow Texans. This paper argues that LBJ's communication style clearly reflected his Texas roots, but that his liberal politics came from his father's influence and the poverty of his upbringing.
From the Paper "No rich oil barons lived there. Farmers in the Hill country could barely eke out a living, and one good year for crops was nearly always cancelled out by two or more years of drought and loss. Johnson's father was a state representative in the days when representatives were paid only $5 a day for two months of service a year--$2 a day if they didn't get done on time. Presumably, state representatives were expected to hold office for the "honor" of it. Other elected officials made up for the lack of pay by accepting graft and bribes and using the system to enrich themselves, but Lyndon Johnson's father Sam Ealy Johnson was incorruptible. He never accepted so much as a cup of coffee from a lobbyist or anyone that could ask a political favor of him in return."
