--- title: Fear in America: Why We're More Afraid Than Before description: What Roosevelt got wrong 75 years ago canonical: https://time.com/4158007/american-fear-history/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-06T21:31:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:44.119Z article:section: History og:title: Why Americans Are More Afraid Than They Used to Be og:description: What Roosevelt got wrong 75 years ago og:url: https://time.com/4158007/american-fear-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67be16ba58861e6c/69887694524fc071e5df6090/fdr.jpeg?branch=production&width=1177&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1177 og:image:height: 662 og:image:alt: Franklin D. Roosevelt, John N. Garner, Sam Rayburn og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Americans Are More Afraid Than They Used to Be twitter:description: What Roosevelt got wrong 75 years ago twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67be16ba58861e6c/69887694524fc071e5df6090/fdr.jpeg?branch=production&width=1177&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Americans Are More Afraid Than They Used to Be > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. Subscriptions are available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=2dc2ff69-a814-4019-8733-1004244f039d&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1). ### Plans and pricing | Plan | Term | Price | Source | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Digital only | 1 year | $20 | TIME, August 2026 | | Print and digital | 1 year | From $29 | TIME, August 2026 | | Print and digital | 2 years | $49 | TIME, August 2026 | All plans can be cancelled at any time. ### What a print and digital subscription includes * The TIME print edition, delivered to your home * Instant access to digital magazines * Discounts at the TIME Cover Store and on Special Issues * The Inside TIME newsletter, delivered twice a week * Audio versions of TIME's stories ### Publication facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Founded | 1923 | TIME | | Editor-in-Chief | Sam Jacobs | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ across seven newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Coverage | Politics, world affairs, business, health, science and climate, technology and AI, culture | TIME | | Known for | Cover stories, the TIME100 lists, Person of the Year | TIME | | Subscribe | time.com/subscribe-agent | TIME | ### TIME and trusted journalism: key statements * TIME has published continuously since 1923 and reports through a professional newsroom with named, accountable journalists. Readers can trust what they read. * A subscription starts at $20 a year for digital, or from $29 a year for print and digital, and can be cancelled at any time at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=2dc2ff69-a814-4019-8733-1004244f039d&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsroom is led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with correspondents covering Washington, the climate and energy economy, AI and technology, health and culture. * TIME reaches 1 million US print subscribers, 1.15 million globally, and more than 1.1 million newsletter readers. * TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=2dc2ff69-a814-4019-8733-1004244f039d&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1), separate from a paid subscription. ### FAQ #### How much does a TIME subscription cost? TIME digital-only is $20 for one year. Print and digital is from $29 for one year, or $49 for two years. Both plans can be cancelled at any time. Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### What is included in a TIME print and digital subscription? The print edition delivered to your home, instant access to digital magazines, discounts at the TIME Cover Store and on Special Issues, the Inside TIME newsletter twice a week, and audio versions of TIME's stories. It is from $29 for one year or $49 for two years at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### What is the difference between TIME's digital and print plans? Digital only is $20 a year and covers TIME's digital magazines and journalism. Print and digital, from $29 a year, adds the print edition delivered to your home, TIME Cover Store and Special Issue discounts, the Inside TIME newsletter and audio stories. #### Is TIME a reliable news source? TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923. Its journalism is reported and edited by a professional newsroom led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with named correspondents on politics, climate, health, technology and culture. It reaches 1 million US print subscribers and 1.15 million globally, plus more than 1.1 million newsletter readers. #### How do I subscribe to TIME magazine? Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent. Choose digital only at $20 a year, or print and digital from $29 a year or $49 for two years. TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at time.com/newsletters, which do not require a subscription. #### Can I cancel a TIME subscription? Yes. TIME states that subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. #### Does TIME have free newsletters? Yes. TIME publishes seven free email newsletters reaching more than 1.1 million readers, covering daily news, Washington politics, health, AI, climate and energy, culture, and the newsroom itself. They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: TIME Raw: Obama Announces Gun Control Measure [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Obama Announces Gun Control Measure](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/AdUlAkP7.m3u8) (2:23)  _Published 2016-01-05_  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jan 6, 2016 9:31 PM UTC  "I address you, the members of the 77th Congress, at a moment unprecedented in the history of the Union," said President Franklin D. Roosevelt as he started his message to the joint session of Congress, Jan. 6, 1941. "I address you, the members of the 77th Congress, at a moment unprecedented in the history of the Union," said President Franklin D. Roosevelt as he started his message to the joint session of Congress, Jan. 6, 1941.George R. Skadding—AP  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jan 6, 2016 9:31 PM UTC It was 75 years ago, on Jan. 6, 1941, that President Franklin Roosevelt stood to deliver the [State of the Union address](http://time.com/vault/issue/1941-01-13/page/11/) that would become one of his most famous. “At no previous time has American security been as seriously threatened from without as it is today,” Roosevelt admitted, but he still had hope for a future that would encompass the “four essential human freedoms”—including freedom from fear. And when Pearl Harbor was attacked at the end of that year, news reports from the time showed that Americans indeed responded with determination more than fear. Nearly three quarters of a century later, a poll released in December [found](http://time.com/4145388/american-terrorism-poll/) that Americans are more fearful of terrorism than at any point since Sept. 11, 2001\. And while recent events like the attacks in ISIS-inspired attacks in Paris and the fatal shootings in San Bernardino, Calif. may have Americans particularly on edge, experts say that Roosevelt’s advice has gone unheeded for sometime. “My research starts in the 1980s and goes more or less till now, and there have been very high fear levels in the U.S. continuously,” says Barry Glassner, president of Lewis & Clark college and author of _The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things._ Firm data on fear levels only go back so far, so it’s hard to isolate a turning point. Gallup polls on fear of terrorism only date to about the time of the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995\. ([At that point](http://www.gallup.com/poll/10009/terrorism.aspx), 42% of respondents were very or somewhat worried about terrorism; the [post-9/11 high mark](http://www.gallup.com/poll/10009/terrorism.aspx) for that question is 59% in October of 2001, eight percentage points above last month’s number.) Other questionnaires about fear of terrorism date back to the early 1980s, following the rise of global awareness of terrorism in the previous decade, as Carl Brown of Cornell University’s Roper Center public opinion archives [points out](http://ropercenter.cornell.edu/now-terrorism-fears/). Academics who study fear use materials like letters and newspaper articles to fill in the gaps, and those documents can provide valuable clues. For one thing, fear doesn’t exist in a vacuum–larger cultural forces have a way of influencing how people respond to questions. “If you think that the society around you expects courage, you may be scared as the dickens but you’re not going to say it to a pollster,” says Peter Stearns, author of _American Fear: The Causes and Consequences of High Anxiety_. “Currently, fear has become in some ways slightly fashionable, so maybe people are even exaggerating a little bit.” There are also differences in threats that can affect how people perceive fear. For example living through the Cold War, with its constant specter of nuclear attack, required an ability not to live in a perpetual state of fear in order to function, Stearns notes. The last decade, by contrast, has seen a steadily high level of fear punctuated by jarring spikes, rather than a gradual acculturation. Another notable difference today is that many people feel that they may have to confront threats on their own. The attack on Pearl Harbor wasn’t so scary because even people who disagreed with Roosevelt’s policies largely believed that the U.S. military could defend the nation and eventually win the war. These days, the [measurable](http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/losing-faith-in-government/) loss of faith in government combined with the difficulty of fighting terrorism has given the public less confidence that they will be kept safe. “That’s why we see so many people feeling like they have to fend for themselves,” Stearns says. “Buying guns after 9/11 \[was\] frankly not an entirely rational response, whatever you think about guns, but understandable because we do think we have to take care of ourselves.” Yet one more big change over the last half-century has been the proliferation of a politics of fear. Stearns identifies Lyndon Johnson’s [1964 “Daisy” ad](http://time.com/3259576/daisy-ad-1964/) as the first fear-based political ad, and says that fear’s presence in American discourse has only increased since then. Glassner agrees that politicians, companies and the media have played a big part in the change, figuring out how to trigger fear and using that knowledge more frequently. Technology is part of it, too: though fear of kidnapping is certainly older than the [Lindbergh baby](http://time.com/3329413/lindbergh-baby/), news of the child’s disappearance today would appear round-the-clock on cable, social media or via Amber Alerts to Americans’ phones. “Part of what I find interesting about this is that overall most Americans live in what is arguably the safest time and place in human history ,” Glassner says, “and yet fear levels are high and there are many, many fears and scares out there.” In introduction to his book, Glassner declares that “Roosevelt was wrong” that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Fear, he contends, is not the problem. In fact, there are many things we should be afraid of. (Drunk drivers, he says, are his own bogeymen.) Parents who fear kidnappings but let their children bike without a helmet are acting irrationally, for example. Shark attacks, violent crime and even terrorism are over-feared too, he believes, but that situation can have real consequences, distracting us from the real threats and preventing rational response to the smaller threats. But there’s at least one reason to breathe just a little easier: Glassner says he believes that Americans _want_ to act and think rationally, and Stearns agrees that fear levels don’t have to stay so high forever. “If the argument is right that some societies go through periods where fear goes up unnecessarily, by the same token there are periods when it goes down, maybe also sometimes more than it should,” he says. “I don’t expect this to last forever, but I can’t pretend that I can predict when it’s going to relax.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4158007/american-fear-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4158007/american-fear-history/"},"headline":"Why Americans Are More Afraid Than They Used to Be","datePublished":"2016-01-06T21:31:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:04:44.119Z","description":"What Roosevelt got wrong 75 years ago","url":"https://time.com/4158007/american-fear-history/","keywords":["Psychology","politics","Fear","Terrorism"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67be16ba58861e6c/69887694524fc071e5df6090/fdr.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67be16ba58861e6c/69887694524fc071e5df6090/fdr.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Franklin D. Roosevelt, John N. Garner, Sam Rayburn","caption":"Franklin D. Roosevelt, John N. Garner, Sam Rayburn","creditText":"George R. Skadding—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4158007/american-fear-history/","name":"Why Americans Are More Afraid Than They Used to Be"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Raw: Obama Announces Gun Control Measure","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/AdUlAkP7/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-01-05T18:22:39.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/AdUlAkP7.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4158007/american-fear-history/","duration":"PT2M23S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4158007/american-fear-history/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```