Cold War

America and its Citizens had every right to be afraid of Communism. They were trying to spread the idea of communism world wide, and as a result, would counteract everything america stood for. Tensions between the Soviets and the United States were dangerously high at this time. Americas top secret nuclear programs were being infiltrated by the soviets. This was a direct attack on the United States of America, making it a problem of national security. Anti-communism among the people of America was at an all time high, and fear nuclear war finalized it.
President Truman made all the right moves at a tender time such as this. He proposed and initiated a national atomic civil defense program. This most definitely scared the American people, and in some regards might have been unnecessary, but nevertheless, it was used as a safety precaution. I can see this being a necessary tactic to ensure the safety of his people incase of an attack. What seemed unnecessary was investigations ordered by Truman involving the loyalty of over 3 million government workers. As a result, many were fired because they were “security risks.” Many would say Truman and his cabinet over reacted to the red scare, but so did the people of the United States, and the precautions they took were smart, and were needed to ensure National Security.