Cold War California

In Defense of Democracy

The focal point of western defense against Soviet aggression during the Cold War, California proved instrumental in preventing a Third World War during the twentieth century. The state’s major military presence on land, air, and sea diverged with a peaceful counterpart that created the United Nations in San Francisco in 1946.

Muroc Field, the future Edward Air Force Base, was the site of Chuck Yeager’s feat breaking the sound barrier in 1947, and Lockheed Skunkworks produced the top-secret high-tech U2 Dragon Lady and SR-71 in Southern California. Cold War presidents, stalwarts Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, both hailed from the Golden State. Billionaire Howard Hughes, who made his mark in aviation and the movies, provided cover for the Glomar Explorer mission to recover a sunken Soviet submarine in the Pacific.

Hollywood was a two-sided coin, supporting both pro-American movie messaging and becoming a flash point for government investigations into Communist sympathies.

Cold War historians Francis Gary Powers Jr., Christopher Sturdevant, and Franky Ortega delve into California’s role in winning the Cold War.      

Francis Gary Powers Jr. is the founder and chairman emeritus of the Cold War Museum. As chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Cold War Theme Study, he worked with the National Park Service and leading Cold War experts to identify historic Cold War sites for commemoration, interpretation, and preservation. He served as a consultant to Steven Spielberg’s Cold War thriller Bridge of Spies. Visit www.GaryPowers.com for more information. Christopher Sturdevant is a children’s librarian who resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His interest in the Cold War began while growing up during the 1980s. Chris studied history and physics at Carroll University. He is a U.S. Air Force veteran and chairman of the Midwest Chapter of the Cold War Museum in Washington, D.C. Franky Ortega teaches at a WWII-Cold War army hospital. He has written for an encyclopedia, produced a documentary, parachuted into Normandy, curated museum exhibits and taught military history courses and is a guest lecturer.