A single year concentrated major national threats that spiked war expectations

Evidence

Impressionistic Measures. Some indicators of societal threat do not lend themselves to quantification, yet deserve mention. The year 1979—perhaps the crest of the high-threat years—saw a near melt-down at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, anti-American revolutions in Nicaragua and Iran, and the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran. By January 1980, 40% of Americans believed that the United States would “become involved in a war during the next three years” (“Opinion Roundup,” 1980). — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 759

Categorization

• CANDY: A nice cocktail-party fact: 1979 saw Three Mile Island, the Afghanistan invasion, Nicaraguan and Iranian revolutions, and the Tehran embassy seizure all in one year, and by January 1980 four in ten Americans expected war within three years.