The predecessor to the FCDA, the Office of Civilian Defense was abolished in June 1945 with the end of World War II. In the period between the end of the World War and 1949, when the Soviet Union detonated their first atomic weapon, little was given to the topic of civil defense. After the Soviets demonstration of their first atomic weapon there was a feeling of the need to do something throughout both the American public and government.[5] This led to, among many actions, the creation of the Federal Civil Defense Administration by President Harry S. Truman in 1950.[6][7]
^Executive Office of the President; National Security Resources Board (1950). "United States Civil Defense"(PDF). Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. Retrieved 20 March 2022.