The Nation

=== World War II and early Cold War ===
The magazine's financial problems in the early 1940s prompted Kirchwey to sell her individual ownership of the magazine in 1943, creating a [[Nonprofit organization|nonprofit]] organization, Nation Associates, out of the money generated from a recruiting drive of sponsors. This organization was also responsible for academic affairs, including conducting research and organizing conferences, that had been a part of the early history of the magazine. Nation Associates became responsible for the operation and publication of the magazine on a nonprofit basis, with Kirchwey as both president of Nation Associates and editor of ''The Nation''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Freda Kirchwey: A Woman of the Nation|first=Sara|last=Alpern|publisher=President and Fellows of Harvard College|date=1987|isbn=0-674-31828-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fredakirchweywom0000alpe/page/156 156–161]|url=https://archive.org/details/fredakirchweywom0000alpe/page/156}}</ref>

Before the attack on [[Pearl Harbor]], ''The Nation'' repeatedly called on the United States to enter World War II to resist [[fascism]], and after the US entered the war, the publication supported the American war effort.<ref name="pfb">{{cite book |first=Paul F. |last=Boller |chapter=Hiroshima and the American Left |title=Memoirs of An Obscure Professor and Other Essays |location=Fort Worth |publisher=Texas Christian University Press |year=c. 1992 |isbn=0-87565-097-X}}</ref> It also supported the use of the [[Nuclear weapon|atomic bomb]] on [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|Hiroshima]].<ref name="pfb" />

During the late 1940s and again in the early 1950s, a merger was discussed by Kirchwey (later [[Carey McWilliams (journalist)|Carey McWilliams]]) and ''[[The New Republic]]''{{'}}s [[Michael Straight]]. The two magazines were very similar at that time — both were left of center, ''The Nation'' further left than ''TNR''; both had circulations around 100,000, although ''TNR''{{'}}s was slightly higher; and both lost money. It was thought that the two magazines could unite and make the most powerful journal of opinion. The new publication would have been called ''The Nation and New Republic''. Kirchwey was the most hesitant, and both attempts to merge failed. The two magazines would later take very different paths: ''The Nation'' achieved a higher circulation, and ''The New Republic'' moved more to the [[Neoconservatism|right]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Navasky |first=Victor S. |title=The Merger that Wasn't |journal=The Nation |date=January 1, 1990 |issn=0027-8378}}</ref>

In the 1950s, ''The Nation'' was attacked as "pro-communist" because of its advocacy of [[détente]] with the [[Soviet Empire|expansionist]] [[Soviet Union]] of [[Joseph Stalin]], and its criticism of [[McCarthyism]].<ref name="ja" /> One of the magazine's writers, [[Louis Fischer]], resigned from the magazine afterwards, claiming ''The Nation''{{'}}s foreign coverage was too pro-Soviet.<ref name="fk">{{cite book |last=Alpern |first=Sara |url=https://archive.org/details/fredakirchweywom0000alpe/page/162 |title=Freda Kirchwey, a Woman of the Nation |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1987 |isbn=0-674-31828-5 |location=Boston |pages=[https://archive.org/details/fredakirchweywom0000alpe/page/162 162–5]}}</ref> Despite this, [[Diana Trilling]] pointed out that Kirchwey did allow anti-Soviet writers, such as herself, to contribute material critical of Russia to the magazine's arts section.<ref>{{cite book |first=James |last=Seaton |title=Cultural Conservatism, Political Liberalism: From Criticism to Cultural Studies |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=1996 |isbn=0-472-10645-7 |page=71 }}</ref>

During McCarthyism (the Second Red Scare), ''The Nation'' was banned from several school libraries in New York City and Newark,<ref name=dc>{{cite book |first=David |last=Caute |author-link=David Caute |title=The Great Fear: the Anti-Communist purge under Truman and Eisenhower |location=London |publisher=Secker and Warburg |year=1978 |isbn=0-436-09511-4 |page=454}}</ref> and a [[Bartlesville, Oklahoma]], librarian, [[Ruth Brown (librarian)|Ruth Brown]], was fired from her job in 1950, after a citizens committee complained she had given shelf space to ''The Nation''.<ref name=dc />

In 1955, George C. Kirstein replaced Kirchway as magazine owner.<ref>{{Cite news| issn = 0362-4331| title = KIRCHWEY REGIME QUITS THE NATION; Weekly's Editor - Publisher Turns It Over to Carey McWilliams, G. C. Kirstein| work = The New York Times| access-date = December 2, 2018| date = September 15, 1955| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1955/09/15/archives/kirchwey-regime-quits-the-nation-weeklys-editor-publisher-turns-it.html |url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[James J. Storrow Jr.]] bought the magazine from Kirstein in 1965.<ref>{{Cite news| issn = 0362-4331| last = Sibley| first = John| title = NATION MAGAZINE SOLD TO PRODUCER; Storrow Taking Over Liberal Weekly From Kirstein for an Undisclosed Price POLICY TO BE RETAINED Staff Also Will Be Kept, New Owner Says -- First Editor Began in 1856| work = The New York Times| access-date = December 2, 2018| date = December 27, 1965| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1965/12/27/archives/nation-magazine-sold-to-producer-storrow-taking-over-liberal-weekly.html |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

During the 1950s, [[Paul Blanshard]], a former associate editor, served as ''The Nation''{{'}}s special correspondent in [[Uzbekistan]]. His most famous writing was a series of articles attacking the [[Catholic Church]] in America as a dangerous, powerful, and undemocratic institution.