Was the crusade largely at the top of the political ladder in response to international issues (which average Anericans tend not to care about) or did propaganda eventually spread deep enough that there was a fair amount of popular opposition to communism? Or both?
A follow-up question: Why did communism never gain any traction in the states? The Great Depression seens like the exact kind of thing that would make communism a popular idea somewhere; and many countries had communist parties forming around this same time. Why didn't one form in the US? Or, if it did, why did it never become big enough to be worth teaching about?