Accelerating the Assault on Mass Democracy

Abstract

When the Truman administration came into office, political repression was still increasing, a result of the continued growth of executive power and the manufacturing of the threat of war. Militarism supported the government’s articulation of the internal-external menace of Communism in the context of the cold war. Communism was the official threat, but the government’s response to the perceived Communist menace provided a litmus test for all diverse political views. American relations with the Soviet Union had enjoyed an increase in popular American support during World War II, including genuine support for democratic principles and some Communist Party ideas.¹ But when Truman took office in 1945, hopes for cooperative relations with the Soviet Union were in shambles. While American democratic forces strengthened efforts to uplift the downtrodden, by the end of World War II, an antidemocratic backlash was mounting.