Cold War DBQ

Words: 934
Pages: 4

At the conclusion of the Second World War two superpowers emerged, the United States of America and the Soviet Union. As the century progressed, tensions between the two nations drastically amounted. By the time Dwight D. Eisenhower became the President, the US and USSR had fully become entrenched in the Cold War. This hostility infested itself into trepidations of the everyday American. After World War II, the American public’s fears of being able to maintain a prosperous economy, supporting democracy overseas, and defending the nation were only moderately alleviated during Eisenhower’s presidency. World War II had brought an unprecedented amount of wealth to the American economy, but as the European countries began to recover many Americans …show more content…
The US and USSR followed the guidelines of mutual assured destruction (MAD), and so at a moment’s notice the entirety of the United States could be under nuclear fallout. John F Kennedy describes the reasoning behind MAD in his inaugural address (Doc G). Here he speaks to every American in order to convince them that the build-up of arms is making the nation safer. JFK sees the nuclear bomb as an opportunity for diplomacy as to alleviate any fears generated by the amounting of nuclear weapons. Some of the atomic concerns can be seen in the photograph published by Life magazine, which elaborates on this angst and how the management of nuclear bunkers and shelters was routine during the Eisenhower presidency (Doc C). The image is designed document a fear but also to mitigate qualms about the situation, showing a readily prepared family in case of war. Eisenhower successfully addressed some of these worries through the Federal Highway Act. As the Saturday Evening Post described, “it connects… and serves the country’s principal industrial and defense areas” (Doc D). Like the Life magazine prior, this passage supports and applauds Eisenhower’s signing of the law. As a result, the President auspiciously created a nation more conducive to troop movement and deployment, easing some of the war tensions. Eisenhower also successfully quelled nuclear fear through political diplomacy. By meeting with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, Eisenhower managed to achieve some political stability between the two nations. Ultimately, although he did not solve the nuclear arms race, Eisenhower did nothing to agitate the situation or put American lives in