Duck and Cover

Preparedness measure in the United States, followed and practiced in the 1950s and 1960s, in case of a nuclear attack. Following the conclusion of World War II, the United States found itself locked in a Cold War with the Soviet Union. Once the Soviet Union achieved a nuclear capability, American citizens began to prepare for a nuclear attack against the homeland. Among the domestic-preparedness measures undertaken by the United States were the construction of fallout shelters and the implementation of air-raid drills in schools and the workplace.

Duck and cover emerged as the battle cry of the American domestic-preparedness effort during those years. This public-awareness campaign reached the American public, particularly schoolchildren, in the form of a short film depicting a turtle practicing the duck-and-cover emergency response to a Soviet attack. As the bombs fell, the turtle “ducked and covered” by withdrawing into his shell. Likewise, children practiced taking refuge either under their desks or in a designated location in the school when the air-raid sirens sounded.

The duck-and-cover campaign remained a standard response to potential nuclear attack throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s. Eventually, it waned, however, partly because of thaws in U.S.–Soviet relations. Despite its eventual demise, the policy remains one of the most pervasive and successful homeland-security initiatives in American history.