Revolution is a four letter word
The 1950's was a fearful time for Americans. The Cold War, which began after the end of World War II, was a period where Americans were extremely paranoid about the threat of Communism.
The increase in paranoia also made it possible for political Conservatives to attack President Truman for not effectively fighting the Communists in Asian.
At the same time, many people believed that the Russians had already obtained the secret blueprints for atomic bomb production.
As the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States intensified in the late 1940s and early 1950s, hysteria over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the U.S. became known as the Red Scare. (Communists were often referred to as "Reds" for their allegiance to the red Soviet flag.) The Red Scare led to a range of actions that had a profound and enduring effect on U.S. government and society. Federal employees were analyzed to determine whether they were sufficiently loyal to the government, and the House Un-American Activities Committee, as well as U.S. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, investigated allegations of subversive elements in the government and the Hollywood film industry. The climate of fear and repression linked to the Red Scare finally began to ease by the late 1950s.
The increase in paranoia also made it possible for political Conservatives to attack President Truman for not effectively fighting the Communists in Asian.
At the same time, many people believed that the Russians had already obtained the secret blueprints for atomic bomb production.
As the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States intensified in the late 1940s and early 1950s, hysteria over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the U.S. became known as the Red Scare. (Communists were often referred to as "Reds" for their allegiance to the red Soviet flag.) The Red Scare led to a range of actions that had a profound and enduring effect on U.S. government and society. Federal employees were analyzed to determine whether they were sufficiently loyal to the government, and the House Un-American Activities Committee, as well as U.S. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, investigated allegations of subversive elements in the government and the Hollywood film industry. The climate of fear and repression linked to the Red Scare finally began to ease by the late 1950s.
The legal tyranny
Joseph R. McCarthy (1908-57) of Wisconsin, became the person most closely associated with the anticommunist crusade--and with its excesses. McCarthy used hearsay and intimidation to establish himself as a powerful and feared figure in American politics. One of the pioneering efforts to investigate communist activities took place in the U.S. House of Representatives, where the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was formed in 1938. HUAC’s investigations frequently focused on exposing Communists working inside the federal government or subversive elements working in the Hollywood film industry, and the committee gained new momentum following World War II, as the Cold War began. Under pressure from the negative publicity aimed at their studios, movie executives created blacklists that barred suspected radicals from employment; similar lists were also established in other industries.
He leveled charges of disloyalty at celebrities, intellectuals and anyone who disagreed with his political views, costing many of his victims their reputations and jobs. McCarthy's reign of terror continued until his colleagues formally denounced his tactics in 1954.
Senator Joseph McCarthy did not create the national obsession with communist subversion. It had arisen in the late 1930s, years before McCarthy had come to public notice. Angry that they had been barred from the corridors of power for 20 years, conservative Republicans used everything they could to discredit the Roosevelt and Truman administrations. Opponents of the New Deal were not always scrupulously careful to distinguish between liberals and Communists and used anti-communism as a way to attack labor unions and liberal social programs.
Everyone is a little subversive.
The Public concerns about communism were heightened by international events. In 1949, the Soviet Union successfully tested a nuclear bomb and communist forces led by Mao Zedong (1893-1976) took control of China. The following year saw the start of the Korean War (1950-53), which engaged U.S. troops in combat against the communist-supported forces of North Korea. The advances of communism around the world convinced many U.S. citizens that there was a real danger of “Reds” taking over their own country. These fears were heightened even more by the establishment of the People's Republic of China under Communist rule on October 1, 1949 following the defeat of the Chiang Kai-Shek and the Nationalists.The outbreak of the Korean War also heightened the Red Scare in the United States because people feared "losing" another Asian country to Communism. Many people were accused of being disloyal to the United States, or spying for communist countries. A phrase was developed to describe this movement. It was called McCarthyism. During this period, individuals who spoke out against the government were viewed as threats to the rest of society. Many entertainers and writers were blacklisted because their actions were considered un-American. At the same time the committees were interviewing suspected communists, the United States was spreading an anti-communist message through posters, and other media. This period also marked the conviction of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for espionage. The couple were executed in 1953 after being convicted of leaking information about the atomic bomb.
There were a number of individual named in the McCarthy Era, some of them are:
W. E. B. Du Bois, civil rights activist and author
Lena Horne, singer
Langston Hughes, writer
Pete Seeger, folk singer
Artie Shaw, jazz musician
There are many more but to show, there was no discrimination with color, sex or profession.
Here is a timeline of the reign of Joseph McCarthy.http://www.shmoop.com/mccarthyism-red-scare/timeline.html
The video that speaks for itself.
Red Scare even in Congress
As the Red Scare intensified, its political climate turned increasingly conservative. Elected officials from both major parties sought to portray themselves as staunch anticommunists, and few people dared to criticize the questionable tactics used to persecute suspected radicals.
One notable example of this is Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman elected to both houses of Congress. She was the first woman to enter the Senate without being appointed to the position. During World War II, she was the only civilian woman to go to sea in a Navy ship in wartime. She was also the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for president at a major party convention. With only a high school education, she entered politics after her husband, a Republican member of Congress, died. She served four terms in the House and four terms in the Senate.
Smith was known as "the conscience of the Senate," and gained a reputation for courage and independence when she became the first person in Congress to condemn the anti-communist witch hunt led by Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. In a 15-minute speech on June 1, 1950, barely a year after entering the Senate, she denounced McCarthy for destroying reputations with his reckless charges about Communists and "fellow travelers" in government. She never mentioned the anti-communist crusader by name; although, no one doubted who she referred to. She told the Senate it was time to stop conducting "character assassination" behind "the shield of congressional immunity."
Smith then read a "Declaration of Conscience," signed by six fellow Republicans. "The nation sorely needs a Republican victory," she declared, "but I don't want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the four horsemen of calumny [misrepresentation]--fear, ignorance, bigotry, and smear."
McCarthy threatened to destroy her political career. But she was so highly regarded that voters easily re-elected her to the Senate. Many speculated that she would run for president in 1952. Asked what she would do if she woke up in the White House, she replied: "I'd go straight to Mrs. Truman and apologize. And then I'd go home."
Membership in leftist groups also dropped as it became clear that such associations could lead to serious consequences, and dissenting voices from the left side of the political spectrum fell silent on a range of important issues. In judicial affairs, for example, support for free speech and other civil liberties eroded significantly. This trend was symbolized by the 1951 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dennis v. United States, which said that the free-speech rights of accused Communists could be restricted because their actions presented a clear and present danger to the government.
Americans also felt the effects of the Red Scare on a personal level, and thousands of alleged communist sympathizers saw their lives disrupted. They were hounded by law enforcement, alienated from friends and family and fired from their jobs. While a small number of the accused may have been aspiring revolutionaries, most others were the victims of false allegations or had done nothing more than exercise their democratic right to join a political party. Though the climate of fear and repression began to ease in the late 1950s, the Red Scare has continued to influence political debate in the decades since and is often cited as an example of how unfounded fears can compromise civil liberties.
One notable example of this is Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman elected to both houses of Congress. She was the first woman to enter the Senate without being appointed to the position. During World War II, she was the only civilian woman to go to sea in a Navy ship in wartime. She was also the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for president at a major party convention. With only a high school education, she entered politics after her husband, a Republican member of Congress, died. She served four terms in the House and four terms in the Senate.
Smith was known as "the conscience of the Senate," and gained a reputation for courage and independence when she became the first person in Congress to condemn the anti-communist witch hunt led by Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. In a 15-minute speech on June 1, 1950, barely a year after entering the Senate, she denounced McCarthy for destroying reputations with his reckless charges about Communists and "fellow travelers" in government. She never mentioned the anti-communist crusader by name; although, no one doubted who she referred to. She told the Senate it was time to stop conducting "character assassination" behind "the shield of congressional immunity."
Smith then read a "Declaration of Conscience," signed by six fellow Republicans. "The nation sorely needs a Republican victory," she declared, "but I don't want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the four horsemen of calumny [misrepresentation]--fear, ignorance, bigotry, and smear."
McCarthy threatened to destroy her political career. But she was so highly regarded that voters easily re-elected her to the Senate. Many speculated that she would run for president in 1952. Asked what she would do if she woke up in the White House, she replied: "I'd go straight to Mrs. Truman and apologize. And then I'd go home."
Membership in leftist groups also dropped as it became clear that such associations could lead to serious consequences, and dissenting voices from the left side of the political spectrum fell silent on a range of important issues. In judicial affairs, for example, support for free speech and other civil liberties eroded significantly. This trend was symbolized by the 1951 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dennis v. United States, which said that the free-speech rights of accused Communists could be restricted because their actions presented a clear and present danger to the government.
Americans also felt the effects of the Red Scare on a personal level, and thousands of alleged communist sympathizers saw their lives disrupted. They were hounded by law enforcement, alienated from friends and family and fired from their jobs. While a small number of the accused may have been aspiring revolutionaries, most others were the victims of false allegations or had done nothing more than exercise their democratic right to join a political party. Though the climate of fear and repression began to ease in the late 1950s, the Red Scare has continued to influence political debate in the decades since and is often cited as an example of how unfounded fears can compromise civil liberties.
The End of an Era.
Despite initial popularity among his fellow party members and the American public, McCarthy's career began to decline. Even some moderate Republicans withdrew their support from him because they felt the senator was hurting the presidential administration. Despite his waning support, President Eisenhower refrained from publicly reprimanding McCarthy. Apparently, the president refused to "go into the gutter" with McCarthy by initializing a public confrontation. Doing so would only create more chaos and generate more publicity for the senator .However, it became apparent that McCarthy's end was near.
McCarthy's First Strike
In June 1953,J.B. Matthews was appointed as McCarthy's research director. In July, Matthews published an article called "Reds in our churches" in the conservative American Mercury. In it, Matthews referred to the Protestant clergy as " the largest single group supporting the Communist apparatus in the United States." The result was a public outrage at Matthews as well as his boss McCarthy.Army InvestigationMcCarthy began his investigation of the Army Signal Corps Laboratory at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey in 1953. The laboratory had employed many Jewish engineers from New York. Many of the civilian employees there were members of the left-leaning Populist Front. In fact, Julius Rosenberg once worked there. Many of the workers have been inspected and cleared by the government. The army was already reexamining the entire workforce in 1953. Nevertheless, McCarthy insisted on opening up an investigation into the matter. McCarthy eventually gave up the investigation after months of quarreling with the army.
The Irving Peress Case
After giving up his investigation on the Army Signal Corps, McCarthy's committee began to concentrate on Irving Peress, an Army dentist. Peress had invoked the Fifth Amendment when filling out the army's questionnaire. Even though he was put under military surveillance, Peress was still promoted to Major. The army eventually found the paperwork that called for his dismissal and Peress was quickly discharged.
McCarthy then launched a campaign to criticize the army for allowing Peress to be promoted. When interrogating General Ralph Zwicker, the senator demanded that the general should reveal some names. Zwicker refused because he could not violate executive order. In response, McCarthy rudely insulted the general by comparing his intelligence to that of a "five year old child." McCarthy's treatment of the general generated a lot of hostility from the press and the American public.
In retaliation for McCarthy's investigation, the Army accused McCarthy's aide Roy Cohn of trying to force the Army into giving special treatment to his friend G. David Schine.
The Televised HearingsThe Senate then started hearings into the Peress matter. The investigations and hearings between the Army and McCarthy was televised live to the public. For two months, Americans watched on as McCarthy bully witnesses and called "point of order" to make crude remarks.
The climax came on June 9. Representing the Army was Joseph Welch. As the Welch was questioning Cohn, McCarthy intervened and said,
"I think we should tell him that he has in his law firm a young man named Fisher, whom he recommended, incidentally, to do work on this committee, who has been for a number of years a member of an organization which was named, oh year and years ago, as the legal bulwark of the Communist party."
Here, McCarthy was referring to Fred Fisher, a young associate in Welch's law firm. Fisher had refused to come to the hearings because he was once affiliated with the National Lawyers Guild. In response, Welch said he did not let Fisher come to the hearing because he did not want to hurt "the lad" on national television. Welch then urged McCarthy to drop the issue. Nevertheless, McCarthy persisted in questioning Fisher's background. At this point Welch exclaimed,
Welch: You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?
At this point, the entire American public viewed McCarthy with disdain. On television, the senator from Wisconsin came off as cruel, manipulative and reckless.
The Final Days
The hearings were not the only components that eroded McCarthy's credibility. Earlier in the year, the journalist Edward R. Murrow had aired a documentary that showed how McCarthy's charges were groundless and how he had used bullying techniques to harass individuals. By June, the senator's Gallup Poll ratings fell from 50% to 34%.On December 2, the Senate voted to censure Joe McCarthy by a margin of sixty-seven to twenty-two.
Driven by depression from being censured, Joe McCarthy resorted to alcohol, which greatly worsen his health. On May 2, 1957, Joe McCarthy died from acute hepatitis and was buried in Appleton, Michigan.
In 1954, a Senate committee found that Senator McCarthy had wrongfully defied the authority of the Senate and certainly of its committees, and that he had been abusive of his colleagues (one he had called them "a living miracle, without brains or guts"). After the fall elections of 1954, the Senate voted to condemn McCarthy for conduct unbecoming to his office. The final vote was bipartisan, with 22 Republicans joining 44 Democrats, and 22 Republicans opposed
McCarthy's First Strike
In June 1953,J.B. Matthews was appointed as McCarthy's research director. In July, Matthews published an article called "Reds in our churches" in the conservative American Mercury. In it, Matthews referred to the Protestant clergy as " the largest single group supporting the Communist apparatus in the United States." The result was a public outrage at Matthews as well as his boss McCarthy.Army InvestigationMcCarthy began his investigation of the Army Signal Corps Laboratory at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey in 1953. The laboratory had employed many Jewish engineers from New York. Many of the civilian employees there were members of the left-leaning Populist Front. In fact, Julius Rosenberg once worked there. Many of the workers have been inspected and cleared by the government. The army was already reexamining the entire workforce in 1953. Nevertheless, McCarthy insisted on opening up an investigation into the matter. McCarthy eventually gave up the investigation after months of quarreling with the army.
The Irving Peress Case
After giving up his investigation on the Army Signal Corps, McCarthy's committee began to concentrate on Irving Peress, an Army dentist. Peress had invoked the Fifth Amendment when filling out the army's questionnaire. Even though he was put under military surveillance, Peress was still promoted to Major. The army eventually found the paperwork that called for his dismissal and Peress was quickly discharged.
McCarthy then launched a campaign to criticize the army for allowing Peress to be promoted. When interrogating General Ralph Zwicker, the senator demanded that the general should reveal some names. Zwicker refused because he could not violate executive order. In response, McCarthy rudely insulted the general by comparing his intelligence to that of a "five year old child." McCarthy's treatment of the general generated a lot of hostility from the press and the American public.
In retaliation for McCarthy's investigation, the Army accused McCarthy's aide Roy Cohn of trying to force the Army into giving special treatment to his friend G. David Schine.
The Televised HearingsThe Senate then started hearings into the Peress matter. The investigations and hearings between the Army and McCarthy was televised live to the public. For two months, Americans watched on as McCarthy bully witnesses and called "point of order" to make crude remarks.
The climax came on June 9. Representing the Army was Joseph Welch. As the Welch was questioning Cohn, McCarthy intervened and said,
"I think we should tell him that he has in his law firm a young man named Fisher, whom he recommended, incidentally, to do work on this committee, who has been for a number of years a member of an organization which was named, oh year and years ago, as the legal bulwark of the Communist party."
Here, McCarthy was referring to Fred Fisher, a young associate in Welch's law firm. Fisher had refused to come to the hearings because he was once affiliated with the National Lawyers Guild. In response, Welch said he did not let Fisher come to the hearing because he did not want to hurt "the lad" on national television. Welch then urged McCarthy to drop the issue. Nevertheless, McCarthy persisted in questioning Fisher's background. At this point Welch exclaimed,
Welch: You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?
At this point, the entire American public viewed McCarthy with disdain. On television, the senator from Wisconsin came off as cruel, manipulative and reckless.
The Final Days
The hearings were not the only components that eroded McCarthy's credibility. Earlier in the year, the journalist Edward R. Murrow had aired a documentary that showed how McCarthy's charges were groundless and how he had used bullying techniques to harass individuals. By June, the senator's Gallup Poll ratings fell from 50% to 34%.On December 2, the Senate voted to censure Joe McCarthy by a margin of sixty-seven to twenty-two.
Driven by depression from being censured, Joe McCarthy resorted to alcohol, which greatly worsen his health. On May 2, 1957, Joe McCarthy died from acute hepatitis and was buried in Appleton, Michigan.
In 1954, a Senate committee found that Senator McCarthy had wrongfully defied the authority of the Senate and certainly of its committees, and that he had been abusive of his colleagues (one he had called them "a living miracle, without brains or guts"). After the fall elections of 1954, the Senate voted to condemn McCarthy for conduct unbecoming to his office. The final vote was bipartisan, with 22 Republicans joining 44 Democrats, and 22 Republicans opposed