Category Archives: Week 4: Cold War Economy

During the Cold War, South Dakota became home to 150 Minuteman missiles. These missiles were kept in underground silos throughout the state. The missiles that the US was creating played a big role in intimidating the USSR. The construction of these missile sites required large amounts of federal funding, which provided economic benefits to theContinue reading “South Dakota Missiles”

The Minuteman Missiles in South Dakota were an integral component of the Cold War economy and a manifestation of what President Dwight D. Eisenhower referred to as the “military-industrial complex.” Under the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were competing in a nuclear arms race, and defense spending therefore skyrocketed. The federalContinue reading “Missiles, Money, and the Cold War”

Dwight Eisenhower’s warning about the “military-industrial complex” and the Cold War economy is demonstrated through the Minuteman Missiles in South Dakota. Besides political and ideological conflicts, the Cold War had an economic impact that shaped how the US government set spending priorities, distributed funds, and interacted with private-sector businesses. Millions of government funds were usedContinue reading “The Buried Secrets of National Security Hidden in the Plains of South Dakota”

The Minutemen Missiles in South Dakota during the Cold War were implemented to bolster the U.S.’s arsenal in the case of nuclear war. As Gretchen Heefner explains in the article Missiles and Memory: Dismantling South Dakota’s Cold War, “Far to the north and well inland, [South Dakota and its neighbors] were in striking distance ofContinue reading “Delta-9: A Cold War Corpse”

President Dwight Eisenhower, in his 1961 farewell address, advised the country to guard themselves against the “unwarranted influence” of the military-industrial complex. Despite being a military leader and a hero of World War II, the President recognized that the growing collaboration between the military, the government, and the growing defense industry—if left unchecked—could overwhelmingly influenceContinue reading “Missiles, Motels, and the Military-Industrial Complex”

During Dwight D. Eisenhower’s administration, substantial investment and construction of highways and the interstate system skyrocketed. I-90, a familiar road for many South Dakotans who ventured across the state in search of tourist stops, also served another significant purpose: it provided an “efficient means of moving large numbers of military personnel and huge quantities ofContinue reading “Fly Over State? No. Weapons of Mass Destruction State!”

The construction of Interstate 90, while it boosted the tourism industry and economic growth, was designed for the efficient moving of military equipment and personnel (Heefner 181). The introduction of the interstate system in South Dakota led to the construction of 150 Minutemen Missle silos placing South Dakota as a crucial and silent cold warContinue reading “I90 and ICBMs”

The Minutemen Missiles in South Dakota did show an example of what it might look like in a cold war from a Midwest perspective and how we humans back then experienced the kind of power that we have to protect our country.  Dwight Eisenhower called the military-industrial complex because so many things were happening inContinue reading “The Minutemen Missiles in South Dakota how it affect the past and the future.”

South Dakota during the Cold War period is an excellent example of what President Eisenhower dubbed the “military-industrial complex”. What is the military-industrial complex? Simply put this is the relationship between defense companies/contractors and the government. Used by Eisenhower as warning against the influence of outside forces on the process of government. During this periodContinue reading “Highway to War”