This dissertation argues that a culture of clearance—the ideology, technology, and practice of large-scale destruction—dramatically transformed the landscape of post-World War II America. In preparation for new suburban, highway, and urban renewal construction, wreckers demolished buildings and earthmovers leveled land at an unprecedented pace and scale. This project examines the role of war, business, federal and local policy, and popular culture in this militarization of postwar domestic space. As the physical, social, and environmental consequences of clearance revealed themselves on the ground, ensuing reforms helped to slow, but not stop, the progress of the postwar bulldozer.