Title: Cold War Influences on American Culture, Politics, and Economics | Shad's Blog
Headings: Cold War Influences on American Culture, Politics, and Economics
Cold War Influences on American Culture, Politics, and Economics
Content: The U.S. adopted a policy called “containment, according to which the United States committed itself to preventing any further expansion of Soviet power” (Foner 842). While a political doctrine, containment resulted in American military intervention all over the world. Most notably, the Korean and Vietnam Wars were fought to stop the spread of communism in Asia and each led to the deaths of thousands of American soldiers. The U.S. was so dedicated to its containment policy that it occasionally abandoned its ideals of self-determination and backed brutal dictators, such as General Augusto Pinochet in Chile, as long as they were not communists (Foner 965). Domestically speaking the Cold War led to the election of anti-communist presidents such as Truman, Kennedy, Nixon, and Reagan. In addition to battling the Soviets politically and culturally, these presidents waged economic warfare with the Soviet Union. Economically speaking, the Soviets and the Americans we as different during the Cold War as they were politically. The Americans advocated free market capitalism while the Soviets promoted communism. Both sides touted the benefits of their system and the deficiencies of the other while claiming greater freedom for their citizens. For the Americans, this meant championing the innovation and affluence that capitalism brought;