The American Nation A History of the United States, Combined Volume (14th Edition)

754 Chapter 28 Collision Courses, Abroad and at Home: 1946–1960

Several weeks later Khrushchev rubbed hard at
the rawest sore in the American psyche: the anguished
memory of Pearl Harbor. In an interview with pub-
lisher William Randolph Hearst, Jr., Khrushchev blus-
tered that the Soviet Union could launch ten or
twenty intercontinental missiles with nuclear war-
heads “tomorrow.” While critics at home flayed
Eisenhower for allowing a “missile gap” with the
Soviet Union, the president testily reassured the
American people that they had little to fear, but oth-
erwise remained silent.
As a prudent military man, however, Eisenhower
refused to take chances. He secretly authorized high-
altitude American planes to spy on key Soviet mili-
tary installations. On May 1, 1960, high over
Sverdlovsk, an industrial center deep in the Soviet
Union, an American U–2 spy plane was shot down
by antiaircraft fire. The pilot of the plane survived
the crash, and he confessed to being a spy. His cam-
eras contained aerial photographs of Soviet military
installations. When Eisenhower assumed full respon-
sibility for the mission, Khrushchev accused the
United States of “piratical” and “cowardly” acts of

aggression. He also told the United Nations that the

Soviet Union was turning out nuclear missiles “like

sausages from an automatic machine.”

Latin America Aroused

Events in Latin America compounded Eisenhower’s

difficulties. During World War II the United States,

needing Latin American raw materials, had supplied its

southern neighbors liberally with economic aid. In the

period following victory a hemispheric mutual defense

pact was signed at Rio de Janeiro in September 1947,

and the following year the Organization of American

States (OAS) came into being. In the OAS, decisions

were reached by a two-thirds vote; the United States

had neither a veto nor any special position.

But as the Cold War progressed, the United States

neglected Latin America. Economic problems plagued

the region, and in most nations reactionary govern-

ments reigned. Radical Latin Americans accused the

United States of supporting cliques of wealthy tyrants,

whereas conservatives blamed insufficient American

economic aid for the plight of the poor.

Eisenhower, eager to improve relations, stepped

up economic assistance. Resistance to communism

nonetheless continued to receive first priority. In

1954 the government of Jacobo Arbenz Guzman in

Guatemala began to import Soviet weapons. The

United States promptly dispatched arms to neighbor-

ing Honduras. Within a month an army led by an

exiled Guatemalan officer marched into the country

from Honduras and overthrew Arbenz. Elsewhere in

Latin America, Eisenhower, as Truman had before

him, continued to support regimes that were kept in

power by the local military.

The depth of Latin American resentment of the

United States became clear in the spring of 1958,

when Vice President Nixon made what was supposed

to be a goodwill tour of South America. Everywhere

he was met with hostility. In Lima, Peru, he was

mobbed; in Caracas, Venezuela, students pelted him

with eggs and stones. He had to abandon the remain-

der of his trip. For the first time the American people

gained some inkling of Latin American opinion and

the social and economic troubles that lay behind it.

Events in Cuba demonstrated that there was no

easy solution to Latin American problems. In 1959 a

revolutionary movement headed by Fidel Castro

overthrew Fulgencio Batista, one of the most nox-

ious of the Latin American dictators. Eisenhower rec-

ognized the Castro government at once, but the

Cuban leader soon began to criticize the United

States in highly colored speeches. Castro confiscated

American property without providing adequate com-

pensation, suppressed civil liberties, and entered into

Table 28.1The Cold War Escalates

Year Event Significance

1947 George Kennan’s

“Sources of Soviet

Conduct”

Outlines rationale for “con-

tainment” of Soviet Union

1947 Truman Doctrine United States supports

Greece and Turkey against

communist threats

1948 Marshall Plan United States provides

economic aid to

Western Europe

1949 Soviet Union deto-

nates atom bomb

Truman calls for develop-

ment of hydrogen bomb

1950 North Korea invades

South Korea

Truman intervenes, as

does communist China

1950 NSC-68 adopted Truman authorizes world-

wide expansion of U.S.

military to stop Soviet

aggression anywhere

1952 United States deto-

nates hydrogen bomb

Soviet Union follows

suit, 1953

1953 NSC-68 replaced with

“Massive retaliation”

Dulles-Eisenhower signal

willingness to start a

nuclear war to defend

American interests

1957 Soviet Union launches

Sputnik

Shows Soviet capacity to

hit American targets with

nuclear weapons