The significance of Sputnik was that it showed rocket motors could be made powerful enough to carry large payloads into outer space. And if man could reach outer space, he could mount nuclear weapons on his rockets and make traditional navies, air forces, and armies obsolete. The National Defense Education Act was passed to encourage scientific research. NASA formed, a civilian agency. In 1961 JFK promised to put a man on the moon.
Presidential leadership fails.
But Eisenhower failed to settle the fears of the American people. When he left office, Eisenhower warned against the military-industrial complex, suggesting it was a threat to democracy. Eisenhower died in 1969. An alternative to communism. American policy Makers searched for alternatives to Marxist liberation theory to provide a pattern for Third World Development.