I was elected president after the end of World War II when the Soviet Union and The United States were the most powerful countries in the world. Both of our countries were striving to be better than the other. We were constantly in fear of attack from the Soviets. I was determined to protect our country well during my presidency. However, it didn't help that the Soviet Union was becoming even more powerful.
On October 4, 1957 The Soviet Union launched a sattelite into space called Sputnik. Sputnik was a huge sucess for The Soviet Union and gave them a big boost. It was very worrisome for the United States though. I pretended not to care, blowing it off saying it was just a "useless hunk of iron". However, if I am honest with myself, I know that this launch was a huge scare for me.
After Sputnik's launch, it took a few days for things to settle in. I realized the alarming signifigance of this acheivement and knew I had to do something. Politicians were in shock and demanded that we raised funding for military and science education. We finally caught up to The Soviet Union in January 1958 with the launch of Explorer 1. This was an uplifting and exciting sucess for the United States.
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/sputnik-memo/
By: Claire S.
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I wonder how President Eisenhower felt when he knew that his country was being watched by our rival country. I bet President Eisenhower was scared to know that the United states was being spied on. If I was the President, I would want to get back at the Soviet Union as revenge.
ReplyDeleteI can infer that after doing some research and reading this post that the reason Russia launched the Sputnik, was so they could "one up" us, and make sure that we did nothing to harm their country. Since Russia and the United States were neck and neck in terms of power in the world, the Soviet Union wanted to ensure that their country was one step ahead of the U.S. In conclusion, the only purpose of the launch of the Sputnik, was so that Russia could have some leverage.
By: Katherine D.