Missing Links in Textbook History: Cold War Origins

Paranoia may be the major ingredient in American Exceptionalism. Where else can a kid grow up in security and relative wealth and yet learn to fear whatever seems different?

It started early for me. When I was in grammar school, I remember watching reruns of a black and white series called “I Led Three Lives” about a businessman who was also a Communist and an FBI agent. As a kid, it seemed like a documentary.

I also remember some of my parents’ friends talking about the Communist Russians as evil-godless-threats.

That’s why my elementary school classes held monthly atom bomb drills to prepare us for the Russian attack. During the drills we were made to hide under our desks while the nun told us not to look at the windows because our eyes would melt. I was doubtful that being under a desk would help, but I did as I was told and learned to fear the unknown.