From 1939 to 1962, did nuclear weapons and nuclear fear made American culture/politics insane?

The public knew very little about the actual extent of the effects of a nuclear war, I mean the nuclear bombing teachings had student crouching underneath their desks for protection...wtf? Many people in the military and government knew the indepth extent of the implications of us using nucs first and thus were very weary of the implications. Many people built bomb shelters, which 99% would have been ineffective, so the fear was there.