The welcome given to returning citizen soldiers in 1945 and 1946 was sharply different from the indifference and even hostility that later greeted the veterans of the Vietnam War. Students should examine articles in popular magazines like Life and Look in 1945 and 1946. They can explore the significance of the GI Bill of Rights, the extraordinary legislation that gave unprecedented assistance to returning servicemen. Encourage students to ask older members of their family about the system of demobilization on the basis of points and about the "52-20 club." With this preparation, screen the William Wyler feature film The Best Years of Our Lives. Ask students to note the ideas, attitudes, and emotions of the three returning veterans and the women to whom they return. Class discussion should follow.

The career of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy warrants full discussion by students either in connection with a lecture as suggested above or in place of it. What can account for McCarthy's astonishing success? What can account for his sudden failure? Was he really so unscrupulous as his enemies alleged? Ask students to briefly answer these three questions. Warn students to be wary of arguments that have the general theme of "I approve of his goals but not of his methods." A class or a portion of a class can be spent discussing any one of the three questions at the instructor's discretion. Understanding of the others should then fall into place. At that time also the goals/methods issue can be discussed. In addition to the sources mentioned earlier, students may benefit from Earl Latham, editor, The Meaning of McCarthyism (second edition; 1973), one of the Problems of American Civilization Series; and Thomas C. Reeves, editor, McCarthyism (second edition; 1982), one of the American Problem Studies Series.

The Korean War as limited war in the context of containment was suggested as a lecture topic. There are a number of questions about the Korean War that are appropriate for student exploration as well, and any or all of them may be assigned. Why was there a Korean War? North Korea invaded South Korea at a time when the Soviet Union was absent from the Security Council. The timing appears to have been extraordinarily inept. Who caused the war and why? The Americans responded with alacrity to push the invader back, but suddenly, apparently, it was decided to go all out and drive to the North. Why the change? What motivated the abandonment of the first announced goal? The Americans were convinced that the Chinese would stay out of the war, but they did not. Why were the Americans so sure that China would not enter the war? Why did China do so? And finally, General Douglas MacArthur had, in his view and that of many Americans, substantial reasons for believing that the war should be carried further. What were those reasons, and why did President Truman reject them? The instructor might consider dividing these questions so that different members of the class will have only one to investigate. A brief written response and a general class discussion of the Korean War will provide further clarification. In addition to the citations suggested earlier, the following may be useful: I. F. Stone, The Hidden History of the Korean War (1952), blames South Korea but has won little acceptance; Norman Kaner, "I. F. Stone and the Korean War," may be found in Cold War Critics: Alternatives to American Foreign Policy in the Truman Years, edited by Thomas G. Paterson (1971); Joyce Kolko and Gabriel Kolko, The Limits of Power: The World and United States Foreign Policy, 1945-1954 (1972), says that South Korea and the United States provoked attack; William W. Stueck, Jr., "Cold War Revisionism and the Origins of the Korean Conflict: The Kolko Thesis," is in Pacific Historical Review 42 (November 1973): 537-566. Robert R. Simmons, The Strained Alliance; Peking, Pyongyang, Moscow and the Politics of the Korean Civil War (1975), says that North Korea acted on its own initiative; John W. Spanier, The Truman-MacArthur Controversy and the Korean War (1965), is a balanced account.