What effect did the cold war have on America?

Following World War II, every administration had a policy dealing with the Cold War. Truman and Eisenhower followed a policy of containment. Under Truman the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine were effective weapons against the threat of Soviet advancement. The development of NATO, saw the US enter the first defensive treaty during peace time. Eisenhower used force in Lebanon and continued spying on the Russians until the U2Spy Plance incident. Kennedy had to deal with the communist take-over in Cuba, the failure of the Bay of Pigs operation, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. LBJ's administration was dealing with the Vietnam War while trying to establish the "Great Society" domestic programs. Nixon began to open relations with Communist China, still a threat to our interests in the Pacific and Reagan dealth with the "Evil Empire" until the collapse of communism and the destruction of the Berlin Wall.