ABSTRACT
The national security state was necessary, it was thought at the time, because the United States had an empire to protect abroad, known commonly as the "free world." The national security state would conduct covert wars as well as other clandestine activities, including bribery, assassination, and intelligence collection. The unspoken aim of the National Security Act was to manufacture and maintain consensus at home through internal security laws that controlled both action and speech. The national security state had economic justification as well. Throughout the Cold War there was a general but unarticulated belief that the United States averted deep depression and class division through the benefits of defense spending. From 1931 through 1939 the jobless rate never fell lower than 14 percent and for four years averaged 20 percent. As a candidate, Bill Clinton campaigned on continuity with the past in foreign affairs.
