How did the early cold war affect life in the US

1. Not only did the Cold War shape U.S. foreign policy, it also had a profound effect on domestic affairs. Even stronger efforts were made after World War II to root out communism within the United States. ... Foreign events and espionage scandals contributed to the anti-communist hysteria of the period.

2. The Cold War established the presence of an American eternal enemy, and politicians capitalized on this as a way to consolidate their own sense of power and control. The Cold War gave American politics and culture a clear and definable enemy that everyone could agree on