In the mid-1950s, many of the tensions of the Cold War started to abate. Instead of confrontations between the United States and the Soviet Union over Europe, there was greater reliance on nuclear deterrence and power plays in the Third World. The United States began to emphasize these methods which had the advantage of being less expensive and provoking less public controversy at home. These methods of fighting the Cold War also created more economic opportunities for Americans abroad. At the same time, covert actions provoked serious reactions from the peoples in the Third World and Europe.

Americans had become a people of plenty with their automobiles, rapid economic growth, and expanding marketplace. The fierce labor–capital conflicts that marked previous decades ceased. Most workers made significant economic gains in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This age of affluence spawned a youth culture with its comic books and rock music as well as new developments such as television. Social critics asserted that the new social and cultural problems appeared to stem from the youth culture and the age of affluence. The 1950s also marked the emergence of a culture dominated by national corporate institutions.

Eisenhower took few steps to enlarge governmental power. His popularity rested more on his personality than on the specifics of his policies, many of which were assailed from both right and left. Critics accused him of doing too much or too little. Later, the Kennedy administration riveted media attention and brought prominent intellectuals into the White House. These driven young men and women promised to launch exciting new crusades. Momentum and change, however, lay more often in rhetoric and style than in action.

Rising dissatisfaction over the slow pace of the campaign against racial discrimination forced the Kennedy administration to consider new initiatives. There was growing grassroots activism, and violence--played out on nightly television--shocked the American people. During the last part of the Kennedy presidency, civil rights issues dominated domestic politics. By the fall of 1963, it seemed that the administration might be ready to support significant social changes. Then on November 22, 1963, Kennedy was killed in Dallas. Forty years later, there still are conflicting theories about his assassination. Meanwhile, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson inherited both domestic and global foreign policy problems.