Following WWII, the Cold War began and pitted the US against red Russia, which began to make Americans at home worry if there was communism growing among them. This led to the growth in popularity of McCarthyism and the suspicion and fear of communists and communist sympathizers; however, this quickly devolved into simple opposition to any agents of social and cultural change, which led to the disillusionment many had with America’s promise of fair and open democracy for decades.
