During the Cold War, the “creation story” of the nation, of pioneers settling the western frontier through hard work and individual striving, was pressed into national service to provide a Cold War narrative that explained the role of the United States on new frontiers in Third World nations. One of the primary ways children learned this lesson was through Western-themed popular culture. Lone Ranger comic books suggested to American children an appropriate role for the nation and for them, as its future leaders in a world of global competition. The Lone Ranger modeled for young viewers in both the United States and colonized nations the appropriate role for the postwar United States as civilizer and savior, not conqueror or colonizer, in a relationship of “benevolent supremacy.” The federal government and Hollywood mobilized this national narrative in order to encourage young Americans to fund and fight the Cold War.