Cold war was a state of political hostility characterized by threats, propaganda, and other measures short of open warfare, in particular, between powers in the eastern block which includes the Soviet Union and its allies against powers in the western block which comprises of United States and its allies. However, for the most part, the Cold War changed American society by introducing both foreign and domestic fear into the lives of Americans. It also brought increase spending in defense programs. The cold war subjected the civilian population to air raid drills. Homeowners took to the habit of stocking up on supplies and building bomb shelters that they hoped would protect them. Central to America’s foreign policy in the post-war period was the containment of the Soviet Union and communism. During the Cold War, the United States and its allies competed with the Soviet Union and its allies militarily, economically, and ideologically. Both sides created massive military forces and huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons. Although the two superpowers never went to war, the policy of containment led the United States into the bloody Korean and Vietnam wars. Heavy government expansion of industries related to war. The government increased spending in defense programs. A lot of tax payer’s money was spent on defense and expansion of sciences. The Cold War introduced an age of science innovation that would limit education, but also brought about programs that would expand man kind into the unknown of space. The government began to require employees to pledge an oath saying that one is not a communist, or has affiliation with one or any similar organization. Breaking this oath meant investigation and possibly a trial. Never before had something like this happened in American society
