Essays

Postwar Politics and the Origins of the Cold War

The essays in this section have been written by leading scholars of American history. They provide additional depth on events and ideas referred to in the introductory essay and, in some cases, different interpretations by historians looking at the same events. These essays are particularly useful in introducing your students to one of the most exciting aspects of studying history—understanding the past from a variety of perspectives.

The Korean War

Author: Allan R. Millett Curriculum Subjects: World History Grade Levels: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Truman and His Doctrine: Revolutionary, Unprecedented, and Bipartisan

Author: Elizabeth Edwards Spalding Curriculum Subjects: World History Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Essays from Other Sub-Eras

is Communism Un-American, by Eugene Dennis (1947). (National Archives)

Anti-Communism in the 1950s

Author: Wendy Wall Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels:
Family fallout shelter, ca. 1957. (National Archives)

Cold War, Warm Hearth

Author: Elaine Tyler May Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels:
Photograph of Eleanor Roosevelt, July 20, 1933. (Library of Congress Prints and

Eleanor Roosevelt as First Lady

Author: Maurine Beasley Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels:
Franklin Roosevelt addressing Congress, March 1, 1945. (NARA 196081)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt—Four-Term President—and the Election of 1944

Author: Matthew Dallek Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:
The Shah of Iran welcomed by the Carters, 1977. (Jimmy Carter Library)

Iran and the United States in the Cold War

Author: Malcolm Byrne Curriculum Subjects: Religion and Philosophy, World History Grade Levels: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+
Ronald Reagan at the Berlin Wall, 1987. (Ronald Reagan Library)

Ronald Reagan and the End of the Cold War: The Debate Continues

Author: Michael Cox Curriculum Subjects: World History Grade Levels:

The Catcher in the Rye: The Voice of Alienation

Author: Timothy Aubry Curriculum Subjects: Literature Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+
Music Inspires, 1941 - 1945

The Forties and the Music of World War II

Author: Elihu Rose Curriculum Subjects: Art Grade Levels: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+
Letterhead from Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, 1910, detail. (GLC)

The Myth of the Frontier: Progress or Lost Freedom

Author: John Mack Faragher Curriculum Subjects: Art, Economics, Geography, Literature Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+
The Nixons at the Great Wall of China, February 1972. (NARA ARC id 194421)

The United States and China during the Cold War

Author: Warren I. Cohen Curriculum Subjects: World History Grade Levels:

The Vietnam War and the My Lai Massacre

Author: George Herring Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels:
Chuck Berry - Collection of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

“Fun, Fun Rock ’n’ Roll High School”

Author: Glenn C. Altschuler and Robert O. Summers Curriculum Subjects: Art, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+