The year 1954 was one of political upheaval in the United States.

Senator Joseph R. McCarthy crusaded against Communists in the government and was eventually censured by the Senate. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles enunciated a policy of ''massive retaliation'' against aggression by the Soviet Union. The Supreme Court found school segregation unconstitutional. Republicans controlled the White House and both houses of Congress for the last time in the 20th century.

As well, in June, by voice votes and with little discussion, the Senate and House passed a resolution adding two words, ''under God,'' to the Pledge of Allegiance.

Now, 48 years later, a federal appeals court in San Francisco has ruled that the words are an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state.

The ruling on Wednesday by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit gained much more attention than the change itself, which was reported briefly on an inside page in The New York Times.