McCarthyism&

the Red Scare

(Part II)

McCarthyism&

the Red Scare

(Part II)

Hysteria• Most Americans bought into Red Scare

– Some welcomed every exposé as victory for American values

– Interrogations filmed & photographed– Just appearing before HUAC could end career– Suspect told to ‘name names’– If they were silent, they were suspected of

being Communist– If they gave names, named people, in turn,

were investigated

• Politicians saw Red Scare as vote-winner– Must be seen as being ‘tough on Communism’– Ruthless and ambitious young Republican

Senator stepped into limelight: Joseph McCarthy

Consider this …• After Democrat Adlai Stevenson had

made a speech in the 1952 presidential election campaign, a woman praised him; ‘You have captured the vote of every thinking person in America.’ Stevenson is said to have replied, ‘Thank you, Ma’am, but we need a majority!’ What do you think he meant by this?

• Compare the two political cartoons to the left. Which was made by supporters of HUAC and which by its opponents? Explain your choice carefully!

McCarthyism• 1950: Sen. McCarthy got his headline

– Claimed to have list of over 200 Communists in the State Department

– Claimed list came from FBI (Hoover)– Claimed 57 card-carrying Communists in

gov’t– In fact, 35 were already cleared, 22 still being

investigated w/o being charged

• McCarthy ‘amazed’ by new-found fame– Dem. Sen. Millard Tydings said charges false– McCarthy attacked Tydings an ‘un-American’

• Republicans supported McCarthy in ’52 elections– Republicans won many seats– Tydings defeated by pro-McCarthy

Republican, John M. Brown, after doctored picture was distributed of Tydings & former Communist whom Tydings never, in fact, met

Here is the composite picture. Note the two original pictures below the composite. There is something disquieting to me that the very technique that Stalin used to place himself next to Lenin when he wasn’t in fact, there, was later used by McCarthyites to frame an honorable man, accusing him of being a secret Communist. It was a dark day for democracy. The former Communist is Earl Browder, expelled from the American Communist Party in 1946, after he took the position that Communism and Capitalism could peacefully coexist.

McCarthyism• McCarthy was on a roll!

– Pres. Ike appointed him head of White House committee to investigate Communist activities in the gov’t

– 1952-53: turned committee into weapon– Used false accusations & bullying– Targeted high-profile figures– Accused all critics of being Communists

• The hit list– Claimed General George Marshall (Head

of military in WWII, Marshall Plan, former Sec State) head of vast Communist conspiracy

– Eisenhower, Marshall’s friend, did nothing– Over 100 university professors fired– 324 Hollywood personalities ‘blacklisted’– ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ an

analogy of Communist threat (a quiet, invisible, nonviolent take-over of the USA)

McCarthy’s Fall• Not everyone approved of McCarthy

– Never over 50% of public– Many senators spoke out against him– Hollywood’s biggest stars protested McCarthy– Quality newspapers (NY Times, Washington

Post) reported balanced pieces damaging him– TV journalist Edward R. Murrow devastated

him on See It Now simply by showing films of McCarthy’s own statements and behavior

• After 4 years of hot air McCarthy finally ran out of steam– 1954: turned his attacks on the army

– Accusations seemed ridiculous

– Became an alcoholic

– Joseph Welsh, army’s lawyer, steadily humiliated him, finally accusing McCarthy of having no decency

– W/o credibility he was finished, dieing in 1957

Famous McCarthy & Welsh exchange

• Do you think McCarthy created anti-Communist hysteria in the USA or simply exploited it?

• Is it fair to say that McCarthy was helped by inaction from people who might have opposed him?

Conservatives versus Radicals• Anti-Communism muted, not silent

– Richard Nixon: Young HUAC member; later President of the USA

– Phyllis Schlafly: Young researcher, later leader of anti-ERA amendment movement

• Red Scare part of something larger– Desire to return to traditional (rural) values

• McCarthy supporters likely to oppose– Women in work force– Rock & roll– Civil Rights Movement

• 1940s –1950s Conservative social views on top– The pendulum started to swing back … – … starting w/ the Civil Rights Movement

Focus Task: What was the Red Scare?

• You are going to draw your own cloud diagram for the Red Scare. Write ‘The Red Scare’ like this in a cloud in the middle of your page.

The Red Scare

Fear of Communis

t spies

Rivalry between

the political parties

Politicians trying to

raise their own profile

American public

hysteria

• Now draw four clouds around the central cloud:– Fear of Communist spies– Rivalry between the political parties– Politicians trying to raise their own

profile– American public hysteria

• Now add another ring of clouds with examples of each of these factors.

• Write a short paragraph explaining how each of the four clouds contributed to the Red Scare.

• Now add one last section explaining whether all Americans were taken in by McCarthyism

Fin