The effects of the Cold War on American citizens

“Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind”. This quote, by

John F. Kennedy, was said to all of America in the midst of the Cold War around the time of the

Cuban Missile Crisis. During this point in the Cold War, and throughout the war in general, there

was an overall fear of a nuclear war and a communist takeover by the Soviet Union. This quote,

by President Kennedy, represents the immense sense of fear towards the idea of a war against

the Soviet Union and the fear that mankind would end if the nuclear war ever begun.

Throughout this time period many people and their families were terrified about what could

possibly happen to them. One man, Bob Korth, remembers a lot about the Cold War and how it

had greatly affected America and its society. During the Cold War, through duck and cover

drills, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the constant threat of a nuclear war and a communist

takeover, society was in constant fear of their lives.

A large part of everyday American life during the period between around 1947 to

around 1991, also known as the Cold War, was the constant fear of a nuclear war. Ever since

the beginning of the Cold War and the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union

evolved after WWII, all of America was terrified that the end could be near. America at this time

thought that if a war ever erupted between the Soviet Union and themselves that it would lead

to a mutual destruction. In an Interview with Bob Korth, who lived through this time period,

after being asked about the threat of communist spies he mentioned, “… we couldn’t attack

them because they would shoot nuclear missiles at us and vice versa because it would be a

mutual destruction, that’s why it’s called the Cold War because no one would attack each other

because no one would win.” This is prominent because it shows the immense fear citizens of
the United States had that if the Soviet Union ever made the first move in the war that

everyone would be killed.

The largest form of fear during this time period was that the United States had little to

no protection against a nuclear weapon. The only way that citizens could prepare for a possible

nuclear attack is through the schools “duck and cover” drills. These were implemented

throughout United States schools and instructed the students to get under their desks and

cover their head if there was ever a nuclear attack. In an interview with Bob Korth, he stated,

“Well I remember all the drills we had in school during the year. An alarm would go off like a

fire alarm and every kid would have to crawl under his desk and put his arms over his head and

you know kneel down under his desk for several minutes until the siren or the drill was over...”

Even though these drills were ultimately pointless in that it offered no protection from a

nuclear attack, it gave America some kind of hope of protection if the war ever erupted.

One of the most significant moments of the Cold War was the Cuban Missile Crisis. In

October 1962, American spy planes found the Soviet Union installing missiles with nuclear

weapons in Cuba capable of reaching the United States. President Kennedy, in response to this

immediate threat on the United States, ordered a blockade on Cuba to keep them from getting

any supplies and demanded the Soviet Union remove the missiles. In an interview with Bob

Korth, he discussed how fear excelled during the crisis, he states, “…that’s all I mean that’s all

the news would talk about that Russia was putting nuclear weapons into Cuba and president

Kennedy was not going to allow that so there going to put a blockade up to try and prevent that

and eventually Russians backed down and removed the missiles but until that point no one

knew what was going to happen.” This statement shows that during this period of the Cold War
the fear became real when the Soviet Union were found installing missiles that could easily

reach the United States. In this interview with Bob Korth, when mentioning that part of the

agreement that ended the crisis was that the United States also had to take out the missiles

they had in Turkey, Mr. Korth had no idea that that had occurred. In the article, “Anatomy of a

Controversy”, in the National Security Archive it states: “coupled with private assurances to

Khrushchev that the United States would speedily take out its missiles from Turkey, but only on

the basis of a secret understanding, not as an open agreement that would appear to the

public”. This article, discussing the Cuban Missile Crisis, states that this part of the agreement

was secret in that the citizens of America were not aware or told about the Turkey missiles. This

shows how secretly kept that detail was to the public in that still decades after the end of the

Cold War all together some people who lived through the crisis still don’t know all the details.

The fear of communist spies living throughout the United States was also a large fear

throughout American Society during the Cold War. In an interview with Bob Korth, when asked

if there was always a constant fear of a communist takeover and communist spies he replied,

“Oh definitely, after WWII our number one competitor and enemy was the Soviet Union they

were trying to get the secret of how to get a nuclear weapon, and they eventually got two

people from the united states to turn over the secrets.” Also when asked about how the threat

of spies affected society, he said “The spies were just trying to steal our technology and

infiltrate the military to see what we were doing and that kind of thing.” So although the threat

of communist spies didn’t directly affect him, the paranoia of spies affected a lot of actors,

directors, and people in government. Some of the people greatly affected by this communist

spy threat were called The Hollywood blacklist. The Hollywood blacklist was the practice of
denying employment to screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians and other entertainment

professionals because of their suspected Communist sympathy. In the interview with Bob

Korth, when asked about the subject of communism he stated, “Yea there was a paranoia that

there was a communist party in the U.S. and that a lot of people were communist like a lot of

actors were portrayed as possibly communist and they were black listed so they couldn’t make

or be in movies.” This shows how powerful the threat of communism and communist spies

were during the Cold War in that it ruined some people’s careers.

Overall the Cold War was an extremely stressful time for the United States and its

citizens. From the fear of communism, nuclear attack and the Cuban Missile Crisis America was

constantly in fear from the 1940s to the 1990s. Through an interview with Bob Korth, it is

apparent what it was like for citizens in America to live during the Cold War. From his interview,

and what is already known about the Cold War, it is obvious that it was without a doubt one of

the most fearful time periods America has ever seen.

Transcript
 For this oral history assignment, I have decided to interview my dad, Bob Korth, who

lived through the Cold War and the fear it brought to citizens in the United States. We will

discuss the fear of communist takeover, fear of a nuclear war and also the effect the Cuban

Missile Crisis had on American citizens.

1) What do you remember about the Cuban Missile Crisis?

a) Well I remember all the drills we had in school during the year. An alarm would go off

like a fire alarm and every kid would have to crawl under his desk and put his arms over

his head and you know kneel down under his desk for several minutes until the siren or

the drill was over. I just remember all the tension and fear there was a lot if fear. I was

only ten or so but you could tell there was a lot of fear among the adults because they

were discussing what might happen and the fact that there was a fear of nuclear war

and if that was the case the world most likely would end for those purposes, so for a

ten-year-old it put a scare to everyone in my school.

2) So I know you mentioned that the fear of war was super prominent in society at this time

during the Cuban Missile Crisis could you elaborate on that?

a) Yea well during the Cuban Missile Crisis that’s all, I mean that’s all the news would talk

about that Russia was putting nuclear weapons into Cuba and President Kennedy was

not going to allow that so there going to put a blockade up to try and prevent that.

Eventually Russians backed down and removed the missiles but until that point no one

knew what was going to happen.

3) Were you aware that the Russians didn’t necessarily back down but that they agreed to

take their missiles out of Cuba if we took ours out of Turkey?

 a) No, are you sure that that happened? I had no idea.

4) So did society in general seem to have faith in the government and the president at the

time to solve the problem at the time and to win the war or?

a) No, I don’t think it was faith it was who knew what the Russians would do, the leader

Nikita Khrushchev always made threats towards the West and who knew what he would

do. There was no telling what his reactions would be to united states demands that’s

why there was such a fear of a nuclear war.

5) So it wasn’t that society didn’t believe that the government couldn’t take care of the

problem it was that they were more scared of what the Russians were going to do?

a) Yea, because the Russians were putting missiles in Cuba and continuously giving threats

so we were always scared what they would do next. When the U.S. first asked the Soviet

Union to remove the missiles from Cuba they refused which built up tension to what

would happen. I think most people were for the government and Kennedy at the time.

6) At this time of the Cuban Missile Crisis and throughout the rest of the Cold War was there

always a fear of a communist takeover or that there were communist spies?

a) Oh definitely, after WWII our number one competitor and enemy was the Soviet Union

they were trying to get the secret of how to get a nuclear weapon, and they eventually

got two people from the united states to turn over the secrets, so at that point on we

couldn’t attack them because they would shoot nuclear missiles at us and vice versa

because it would be a mutual destruction, that’s why it’s called the Cold War because

no one would attack each other because no one would win.

7) So did the Cold War and the fear of communist spies in any way shape domestic life and

how society functioned during this period.

a) Well you know indirectly, I mean there might have been spies but you wouldn’t see a

spy at the local store. The spies were just trying to steal our technology and infiltrate the

military to see what we were doing and that kind of thing. This was the only time I can

remember that no one had any idea to what was going to happen. This is when people

were thinking that they could start a nuclear war at any moment so people were

thinking day by day is this the day were going to be blown up. There was always a fear

that the Soviet Union would start the war and so we had missiles all around the U.S. to

shoot down incoming Russian missiles.

8) So going back to the fear of communists did was there any changes in society due to the

fear of communist spies in the United States?

a) Yea there was a paranoia that there was a communist party in the U.S. and that a lot of

people were communist like a lot of actors were portrayed as possibly communist and

they were black listed so they couldn’t make or be in movies.

Bibliography

Hershberg, Jim. "The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962: Anatomy of a Controversy." The Cuban

Missile Crisis, 1962: Anatomy of a Controversy. N.p., 1995. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.