The latter half of the twentieth century is full of many remarkable events, some of which have made changes in history, and will stand out for generations to come. Throughout the most of the last half of the century, the United States was fighting a Cold War with the Soviet Union. Americans, afraid that communists were everywhere, even within their own government, conducted what were in essence, witch hunts for communists. American astronauts were the first to ever walk on the moon. An American President, for fear of impeachment, resigned. Another President's integrity was called into question for illegal arms deals. America also freed a country from the hands of a tyrant. This paper will touch on one major event from the 1950's, 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's; which in the author's opinion are some of the most significant social, political, and economic events of those decades.
The Fifties in America In 1945 at the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union became the only remaining Superpowers. The United States and the Soviet Union differed with respect to their plans for postwar Europe. The Soviets were intent on expanding communism and communist rule beyond their borders and the Americans took on a policy of containment, containment of the Soviets and the spread of communism. During the postwar years Americans became uneasy about the spread of communism and communist groups within the United States, they became more aware of these organizations and sought to defeat them by way of exposure and intimidation. The FBI was the primary governmental agency charged with exposing these organizations and its members. They probed into the backgrounds of suspected communists throughout the United States exposing them. In February 1950 a little known senator from Wisconsin, Senator Joseph McCarthy either for personal or political reasons, made public accusations claiming that there were over two hundred "card
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