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of a “thaw” in relations between the U.S. and the Communist world. While
the Americans and Russians never had an armed conflict–both sides knew that
the U.S. was far superior–there was an intense and costly arms race, wars in
Korea and Vietnam, and interventions in Guatemala and many other places
where the wars were “hot” more often than not. And by the end of the
decade, as a new president, JFK, came to power, the rivalry between the U.S.
and Communists was burning again, especially in Vietnam.
Culturally, it was a fascinating time. “subversives” or “Communists” inside
the U.S., in reality usually no more than groups calling for a more complete
version of democracy or demanding rights for people who faced discrimina-
tion, had to be contained, and people like Joe McCarthy and Richard Nixon,
along with religious and media figures, met that challenge, and thus created a
culture of conformity. One wore the proverbial “gray flannel suit” to work,
but, metaphorically, wore it all the time. The way to get ahead was to go along,
not rock the boat, not wear a pink shirt to work.
But, along with this “madness,” as Ginsberg called it, was a vibrant and
extensive “counterculture,” of jazz musicians, artists, folk singers, playboys,
satirists, and beatniks. Amid the fear and “sameness” of the cold war and
McCarthyism, they injected a jolt of creativity and a different reality into
American life. The leather jackets of James Dean and Marlon Brando were
more popular to the youth than the formal suits their parents wore. Marijuana,
not martinis, was their drug of choice. Miles Davis and Pete Seeger were musi-
cal stars, jazz and folk music always playing. “Angelheaded hipsters” were
writing poems and being “cool.” There was a social and political tornado
brewing, and tie-dyed shirts, bell-bottom pants, and long hair were about to
replace the men in gray flannel suits as the symbol of American society.