Impact of the Cold War

• Cold War Liberalism


  Support for individual rights, national security, and prosperity through the expansion of the middle class. Opposed collectivism, atheism, and other radical ideas associated with communism that may have challenged the constitution.
• Expansion of Presidential powers

  1. Changes made to the National Security Act in July 1947

  2. Created a unified Department of Defence

  3. Created the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

  4. Created the National Security Council
• By 1950, the United States was richer and more powerful than any other country in the world
• The Soviet Union had scored an apparent victory in October 1949 with the successful Communist revolution in China and had successfully developed their own nuclear bomb
• A Communist-led coup in Czechoslovakia in February 1948 and Soviet efforts to blockade Western access to West Berlin between June 1948 and May 1949 reinforced fears that Stalin and his allies were pushing for a more dominant global position
• In June 1950, the Communists launched a bold attack on their non-Communist neighbours in South Korea, and they appeared poised to extend their empire even further
• The Korean War grew increasingly unpopular and greatly damaged Truman's presidency, ensuring the election of Eisenhower in 1953
• The war greatly impacted the US economy. It cost $67 billion and billions more were needed to rebuild South Korea. This increased defence expenditure and boosted the nations economy but was also inflationary
• Eisenhower feared the Cold War economy and the annual $50 billion per year spent by Truman would lead to economic ruin if continued
• Eisenhower was concerned about the 'military-industrial complex'. This was the encouragement of the Cold War by influential individuals with investment and interest in the defence industry
• Truman's Cold War liberalism and his violent anti-communism became ideological cornerstones, supporting the next forty years of American politics
• President Eisenhower placed renewed emphasis on Communist containment, continuing many of the basic policies established in the late 1940s and early 1950s despite reducing defence spending in his initial years of President