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Assess The Impact Of The Cold War Essay

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Assess the impact of the Cold War on US politics during Truman’s presidency. (15 marks)

The Cold War soon begin after the end of WW2 due to ideological differences between the two superpowers, United States and the Soviet Union. Truman the successor of Roosevelt who became president in 1945 was entangled in the Cold War. The Cold War had great impact on US politics through creating political consensus between the Republican and Democrats in relation to policy of containment, but had primarily polarised politics when McCarthy help defeat Democrat candidates in 1946 and 1950 general elections through his smear campaign, which also contributed to the result of 1946, 1950 and 1952 congressional election and also the 1952 presidential election due to critics of Truman’s decision for America …show more content…

As the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States intensified in the late 1940s and early 1950s, hysteria over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the U.S. became known as the Red Scare. The Red Scare led to a range of actions that had a profound and enduring effect on U.S. government and the role of Senator Joseph McCarthy impact to America Politics would be the most notable and significant. Soon after defeating the Democratic party in the Wisconsin U.S. Senate Election through his smear campaign, 1946 , Senator McCarthy was being advised by anti-communist name Edmund Walsh to capitalise on Americans' fear of Communists and by February 9 1950 he claimed that he had a list of 205 people in the State Department who were known members of the American Communist Party. The Tydings Committee was created as the immediate effects of Joseph McCarthy’s Wheeling speech and it was intended to examine McCarthy’s claim of 205 known communists in

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