When I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, there was no country more feared by Americans than the Soviet Union. We were all terrified back then at the thought that the Reds would drop atomic bombs on the United States and blast us all to oblivion. That became a very real threat, in fact, with the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. For Republicans especially, the number one job of America's political and military leaders was to be on constant guard against the Communist menace coming out of Russia. Their stern warning was, "Better dead than red." A favorite line of attack on Democrats was to accuse them of being "soft on communism."