Since we are now embarking on uncharted territory, looking back on another time where we feared we were heading into the unknown caused as much anxiety in the 1950s as it does now.
But it was a different time then and perhaps we were different people. In the 1950s we went to extremes, looking for and exposing those people we feared were going to dismantle our Democracy, make us as a nation too weak to defend ourselves and our futures being dictated by Moscow. The fear and paranoia destroyed the lives of many innocent people and sowed an aura of distrust all over Washington, and indeed America for a time.
Lots of sleepless nights back them. If it wasn’t fear of a government takeover by hostile ideologies, it was fear we were on the edge of a nuclear war.
We needed assurances we were safe – we were being looked out for – the people in Washington had our best interests and they would do the right thing. So a considerable amount of time was devoted on radio, TV and newspapers to the question of how safe we were and to what extent Capitol Hill was engaged in to lessen the anxiety.
One such program was a series of interviews and lectures put on by the National Educational Radio Network, a forerunner of PBS and NPR in conjunction with the University of Minnesota. The multi part series covered all aspects of the security question. In this episode Senator Hubert Humphrey (D-Minnesota) and Congressman John Moss (D-California) discuss the issue of National Security, government agencies and secrecy in 1956.
No doubt, interesting to draw comparisons – however 1956 is a far cry from 2025 as considerably more is at stake and we had no concept of the Internet or Social Media at the time. But the discomfort and unease are the same.
Here is that episode of the series Security And Civil Rights “Are Our Government Secrets Being Protected?” as it was aired in 1956.
