If communism was allowed to slip into the continent, it was only a matter of time before it spread throughout the landmass, up into Central America and on the American frontier. .
Perhaps the only thing that Americana feared more than the spread of communism was the threat of nuclear war. As the Cold War progressed, both nations practiced nuclear proliferation, amassing deadly nuclear weapons in preparation for a war to end all wars. The biggest question on everyone's mind as the Cold war threat progressed was rather simple: "Who will strike first?" There were varying opinions throughout the United States as to the proper course of action. A minority believed the United States should attack first and win the war swiftly and brutally, rather than prolonging the inevitable. Fortunately for pacifists, there was a reason that the war was "Cold". The condition of mutually assured destruction or MAD ensured that once one side struck, the other would strike just as hard, if not harder spiraling both nations into oblivion. It would be illogical for an official in Moscow to order a strike on New York City or Washington DC knowing that Moscow or Leningrad would be annihilated in just a matter of minutes. A diagram in US News and World Report, published in 1957 reveals with stunning clarity the reality of the missile age (Document E). Outlining the facts of nuclear war the diagram concludes in large lettering: "RESULT: A growing question whether a policy of receiving the first blow may be the best one". Given the situation of the Cold War it could be inferred that the communist opposition in Moscow would attribute the same logic to the situation. Any attack would mean assured destruction in a matter of minutes. Americans would keep this little fact of mutually assured destruction close to their hearts to keep them sane as frenzy and Red Scare plagued the nation.
