What role did the United States play in the world picture during the Cold War, and how did this role manifest itself domestically and internationally?

The Cold War was an ideological clash between democratic capitalism and socialism. Each side had a large nation which took the role of figurehead; the United States served as the figurehead for democratic capitalism, as did the Soviet Union for socialism. This role pervaded both international and domestic affairs.

Internationally, the United States did much to promote global democracy. Both the Korean and Vietnam wars were fought to prevent the spread of socialism into new nations, and the U.S. provided copious amounts of foreign aid to democratic nations at risk of converting to socialism.

Domestically, the United States sought to remain pure from socialism. During the "Red Scare," Congress investigated potential infiltration of the U.S. government and prosecuted numerous people it believed were communist sympathizers. The government also pressured the American film industry to produce films which opposed socialism. One example I watched recently is The 300 Spartans, which overtly portrays the war between Greece and Persia as a war between freedom and slavery. The inference, of course, was that the Greek fight for freedom was like the American fight for democracy and that socialism was slavery.