Cold War

The "Cold War" began with the communist Soviet Union after the end of World War II. It was a "war" in the sense that the United States and the Soviet Union were enemies every bit as much as two sides to an actual war are. Communists were (and are) determined to end the American form of government, with its freedoms. This "war" was "cold", however, because no soldiers fired any shots directly against the real enemy. Instead, this "war" was fought through spies, nuclear armament, installing missiles directed at the other side, and gaining influence and control over smaller countries to achieve a strategic advantage.

The Cold War took the form of publicity campaigns also. In 1942, the "Voice of America" was founded as a radio program to broadcast the American message of freedom from friendly countries to reach audiences inside neighboring communist countries. It continues to exist to this day.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was a solid ally of the United States against communism. From 1940 to 1945, Churchill had been the most popular man in England. His approval ratings had never fallen below 78%. In May 1945, his approval rating stood at 83%, and he began running for reelection.^[7] He then lost in a landslide! Historians to this day debate why that happened. Possible explanations range from how voters wanted to move towards the future and forget about the war, to a feeling that Churchill had finished his work. Truth be told, political outcomes can be surprising, and there is often little logic in politics. The real benefit of democracy is not that it arrives at the best outcome, but that it provides an element of surprise to check and balance against tyranny. Also, politics is about the future, not the past, and Churchill's leadership of Britain during the war said nothing about how he would lead in peacetime.

In 1946, Churchill traveled to Missouri to receive an honorary degree. He then delivered remarks that were prophetic:^[8]

It is my duty ... to place before you certain facts about the present position in Europe. From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow.

With this "Iron Curtain Speech" about how the communists had gained control over Eastern Europe, Americans were on full notice about the communist threat posed to the world by the Soviet Union.

In 1947, President Truman announced what has become known as "Truman Doctrine." He pledged economic aid for democratic countries opposing communism, beginning with Greece and Turkey. Also in 1947, George Kennan at the United States State Department (the agency that handles foreign policy) published a new policy for dealing with communism: "containment". Its approach was to contain communism to where it already existed and not allow it to spread further to other countries. This philosophy guided the Cold War.

That same year, 1947, saw the founding of two important government groups to defend the security of the United States against foreign enemies. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was created in order to gather "intelligence" (key information) outside the United States through "overt and covert" methods. In simple terms, it is a spy agency. It uses information collected by other United States agencies (hence its name "central intelligence") and set goals for "intelligence" gathering. It has become an object of controversy and many Hollywood movies! In addition, the National Security Act established the National Security Council as an advisory body to the president on national security issues. It uses the CIA to gather information for it.

In 1948, the United States and Western European nations formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ("NATO") to guard against the threat posed by the communist Soviet Union.