The 1940s and 1950s in the United States

Following the end of World War II in 1945, the United States found itself embroiled in a period of massive military demobilization. With 35,000 service personnel being discharged per day in 1946, the country faced short-term economic and social problems, including inflation, consumer goods shortages, and strained labor relations. On the political front, conflict continued despite the end of the war. By the 1950s, the Cold War was well underway. In 1950, the United States announced that it had the H-Bomb under development shortly after Russia touted its ownership of the A-Bomb. Tensions mounted between East and West, and on the home front, Senator Joseph McCarthy fueled the fear of communism by claiming that communists were not just abroad, but working side-by-side with America's best democracy-loving citizens. McCarthy even claimed to know the names of communists working in the State Department of the United...