Civil defense under the Truman administration: the impact of politicians and scientists

This thesis chronicles and examines the development of civil defense under the Truman administration. Both Washington's politicians and various atomic scientists embraced civil defense planning as a method of combating the Cold War and ensuring domestic national security. These efforts resulted in the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA). The FCDA was the product of unrealistic assumptions and poor planning. Congress consistently allotted the agency unsubstantial yearly operating budgets, and consequently the FCDA always remained in the shadow of the larger military effort. Under the Truman administration, the FCDA was materially unsuccessful, because its nationwide shelter program never came to fruition. The civil defense administration's public information program, however, was modestly successful in that it raised public awareness of the possibility of atomic attack.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Department dc:contributor.department

History

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1992

Author dc:creator

• Fitzpatrick, Anne Claire

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Kaufman, Burton I.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Moyer, Albert E.
• Nurse, Ronald J.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

etd-01122010-020150

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/40615