McCarthyism: Senator Joe
McCarthy
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McCarthyism
Harry S Truman was
the 33rd American President who served in office from April 12, 1945 to January 20, 1953. One of the important events during his presidency was
the new Red Scare and the rise of McCarthyism.
McCarthyism Facts: Fast Fact Sheet
Fast, fun facts and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
about McCarthyism.
What does the term McCarthyism mean? The
term McCarthyism is synonymous with the
fearful anti-communist 'witch hunts' of
Senator Joseph McCarthy who used unfair
investigative techniques to bring
allegations of disloyalty against prominent
and influential Americans, which severely
damaged reputations and ruined careers.
Who started McCarthyism?
Who was involved in McCarthyism?
McCarthyism was named after Joe McCarthy but
the anti-communist tactics started with the
1947 Loyalty Review Program and the House
Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC)
that investigated suspected threats of
Communist subversion or propaganda.
Who were the common victims of McCarthyism?
The victims of
McCarthyism were government employees,
Hollywood actors and actresses, prominent
writers, minority groups, union members and
other people of influence in American
society.
McCarthyism Facts
for kids
The following fact
sheet contains interesting information, history and
facts on McCarthyism for kids.
McCarthyism
Facts for kids
McCarthyism
Facts - 1: Definition:
McCarthyism is a term that is generally used to
encompass the Communist Witch Hunts of the 1950's during
which public accusations of disloyalty or subversion
were made using unfair investigatory methods.
McCarthyism Facts - 2:
Before the emergence of
Senator Joseph McCarthy as a powerful anti-communist other events
occured that are now classed under the heading of McCarthyism. These
events include the Loyalty Review Program and the investigations of
the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) which led to
high profile court cases such as those surrounding Alger Hiss and
the Rosenbergs.
McCarthyism
Facts -
3:
Allied victory World War 2 (1939 - 1945) ended the
threat of Fascism and Nazism but another threat to the
stability of the United States was sparked by fears
concerning the spread of
Communism which led to the second Red Scare and the
beginning of the
Cold
War.
McCarthyism
Facts - 4: The
Loyalty
Review Program was set up under Executive Order 9835 on March
21, 1947 and to check the loyalty of federal employees and any new
applicants seeking employment in the US government.
McCarthyism
Facts - 5: The
House
of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) became a permanent)
committee in 1945 to investigate suspicions of Communist subversion
or propaganda by people of influence in American society.
McCarthyism
Facts -
6: The
1947 Taft-Hartley act contained
an anti-Communist clause that required union leaders to
take an oath stating that they were not communists.
McCarthyism
Facts - 7: The highly
publicized case concerning the high ranking US diplomat
Alger Hiss began in 1948
following accusations by writer and editor Whitaker
Chambers that were investigated by the HUAC and the
Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
McCarthyism
Facts - 8: FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover
was not content with screening federal government employees and in
1947 he went before the HUAC to urge them to hold public hearings on
celebrities and other influential people suspected of being involved
in Communist infiltration and subversion.
McCarthyism
Facts - 9: The FBI mounted investigations
into the Hollywood movie industry which led to the HUAC prosecutions
of the "Hollywood Ten" that led to the establishment of the
Hollywood blacklist that ruined the lives and careers of many
actors, actresses and writers.
McCarthyism
Facts - 10: J. Edgar Hoover
and the FBI obtained information on the anti-American
activities of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) from
access to the Venona Project data and by working closely
with former members of the CPUSA, including
ex-spymasters Whittaker Chambers and Elizabeth Bentley.
McCarthyism
Facts - 11: FBI agents and FBI
collaborators infiltrated the US Communist Party to
monitor its activities of its members from the inside.
The activities of J. Edgar Hoover and FBI agents also
extended to other minority groups during the early years
of the Cold War and their activities became synonymous
with the term 'McCarthyism'
McCarthyism
Facts -
12: Taking into
account the Red Scare and the anti-communist hysteria
that was sweeping the nation it makes it easy to
understand why a strong anti-communist politician such
as Joseph McCarthy would rise to such prominence and
power in the early 1950's
McCarthyism
Facts - 13: Joseph "Joe"
McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was born in
Wisconsin to a family of devout Roman Catholics. He
graduated as a lawyer and then became involved in
politics.
McCarthyism
Facts -
14: Joseph "Joe"
McCarthy was a ruthless and ambitious man. He ran a
'dirty tricks' campaign against his opponent to become a
circuit court judge, served in the US Marines during WW2
and then ran against Robert La Follette to become
Republican candidate for the senate. During the campaign
he used false claims to accuse Robert La Follette of war
profiteering and being a Communist. Joseph "Joe"
McCarthy won the election and became a Republican
Senator in 1947.
McCarthyism
Facts - 15: Joseph McCarthy's career as a
Republican Senator had a less than impressive start and he was
accused of falsifying his war record and investigated for tax
offences and for taking bribes from the Pepsi-Cola Company. Fearing
he would lose his seat in the next election he looked for ways to
increase his standing as a Republican Senator
McCarthyism
Facts - 16: He used the political climate
of the Red Scare and the wave of anti-communist hysteria to begin a
campaign against communist subversives working in the Democratic
administration.
McCarthyism
Facts - 17: Joseph McCarthy was a friend
of J. Edgar Hoover and this association would provide an important
communication link with the information held by the FBI.
Continued...
McCarthyism
Facts for kids
Facts
about McCarthyism Facts for kids
The following fact
sheet continues with interesting information, history and facts
on McCarthyism for kids.
McCarthyism
Facts for kids
McCarthyism
Facts - 18: On February 9, 1950 this
little-known senator gave a speech at a meeting of the Republican
Women's Club in Wheeling, West Virginia. In his speech Joseph
McCarthy mounted an attack on President Truman’s 'red herring'
remark concerning the Alger Hiss case and charged that the State
Department, and its Secretary Dean Acheson, harbored “traitorous”
Communists.
McCarthyism
Facts - 19: Joseph McCarthy
quote from February 9, 1950 speech "I have here in my
hand a list of 205...a list of names that were made
known to the Secretary of State as being members of the
Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working
and shaping policy in the State Department..." McCarthy
later reduced this figure to 57
McCarthyism Facts - 20:
The Associated
Press distributed copies of the speech to the press. It
caused a sensation. Joseph McCarthy got the publicity he
wanted. His forceful, shocking speeches, and the
public's fear of Communism, won him re-election as
Senator in the 1952 election, which gave the Republicans
control of Congress.
McCarthyism Facts - 21:
Republican Senator
Joseph McCarthy continued with his claims that the
Democratic administration had been infiltrated by
communist subversives. He distributed booklets at his
speeches called 'The Party of Betrayal'. He named names
(particularly Dean Acheson and George C. Marshall), made
unfounded accusations of disloyalty and attracted even
more publicity.
McCarthyism Facts - 22:
His unfounded
accusations aimed at tarnishing reputations in the
government and accusations of Communist sympathies
coincided with the time when Americans had just entered
the Korean War (June 25, 1950
- July
27, 1953) against the Soviet-backed
communist North Korea and China.
McCarthyism
Facts - 23: Senator Joseph
McCarthy obtained the chairmanship of the Committee on
Government Operations of the Senate and of its permanent
subcommittee on investigations. He was in an ideal
position to use his power to exploit the rising fear of
Communism.
McCarthyism
Facts -
24: For the next two
years Joseph McCarthy was constantly in the spotlight
using theatrics and sensational accusations that drew
the attention of the newspapers and television. He began
a 'reign of terror', referred to as the "Communist Witch
Hunt", investigating various government departments,
badgering and questioning countless witnesses about
their suspected communist affiliations.
McCarthyism
Facts -
25: McCarthy made the
truly terrifying move of targeting 'anti-American books'
in libraries. His researchers investigated the Overseas
Library Program and discovered 30,000 books by
"communists, pro-communists, former Communists and anti
anti-communists." After the publication of this list,
these books were removed from the library shelves.
McCarthyism
Facts -
26: Senator Joseph
McCarthy's persecution of innocent persons on the charge
of being communists, together with his irresponsible
tactics of damaging reputations of Americans with vague
and unfounded charges, became known as McCarthyism.
McCarthyism
Facts -
27: McCarthy was a
bully and the power of Senator Joseph McCarthy was so
great that people were afraid to challenge him for fear
of becoming targets themselves.
McCarthyism
Facts -
28: His smear
campaigns, dirty tactics and unfounded accusations left
a cloud of suspicion over anyone who was accused, which
was often interpreted as guilt.
McCarthyism
Facts -
29: Senator Joseph
McCarthy believed himself to be invincible and in 1953
he turned his attentions to communist infiltration in
the military.
McCarthyism Facts - 30:
The newly elected
President Dwight D. Eisenhower was absolutely furious
with McCarthy. The United States Army were alerted to
McCarthy's intentions and, before he could act, mounted
their own internal investigation. No evidence of spies
or espionage was found.
McCarthyism Facts - 31:
McCarthy was
enraged at the army's denial and in the spring of 1954
took his investigation to a sensational, nationally
televised program, referred to as the Army-McCarthy
Hearings.
McCarthyism Facts - 32:
Army-McCarthy
Hearings lasted for 36 days in which U.S. Army officers
and civilian officials were grilled on Communist
subversion, defended by the army lawyer Joseph Nye
Welch. The Army-McCarthy Hearings also assessed the
security risk of homosexuals in the US government.
McCarthyism Facts - 33:
Millions of
Americans watched as McCarthy used his brutal and
hostile interrogative tactics. McCarthy tried to
discredit Joseph Nye Welch by accusing Fred Fisher, a
junior attorney at Welch's law firm, of having past
associations with a Communist organization.
McCarthyism
Facts -
34: His tactics
prompted Joseph Nye Welch to explode at McCarthy for
naming the young man before a massive television
audience without prior warning or previous agreement to
do so. Joseph Nye Welch said "Until this moment,
Senator, I think I have never really gauged your cruelty
or your recklessness...Let us not assassinate this lad
further, Senator. You've done enough. Have you no sense
of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of
decency?"
McCarthyism
Facts -
35: The next day the
newspaper headlines shrieked "Have you no sense of
decency?" Joseph Nye Welch had discredited McCarthy and
helped to turn the tide of public opinion against him.
Welch had attacked the bully McCarthy who was shown for
the type of man he was and lost his power to arouse fear
and suspicion.
McCarthyism
Facts -
36: The Army-McCarthy
hearings brought about McCarthy's downfall from
political power and lost his credibility from the
American public.
McCarthyism
Facts -
37: On December 2, 1954, the US Senate
voted 67–22 to censure Senator Joseph McCarthy for
conduct "contrary to Senate traditions", effectively
wiping out his realm of influence, although not
expelling him from office.
McCarthyism
Facts -
38: Senator Joseph
McCarthy continued to chair the Subcommittee on
Investigations until January 3, 1955, the day the 84the United States Congress was inaugurated, and was replaced
as chairman by Senator John L. McClellan.
McCarthyism
Facts -
39: After this time
Senator Joseph McCarthy was mostly ignored by his
colleagues and by the media. He turned to alcohol and
died at the age of 48 years old before he had completed
his second term in office. He will be forever remembered
in US history for McCarthyism.
McCarthyism
Facts for kids
Similarities between McCarthyism and the Crucible
Although Joe
McCarthy lost his power, McCarthyism continued in
the United States for some years. McCarthyism is
closely associated with the playwright Arthur
Miller was required to testify before the HUAC about
his political leanings in 1956. Suspicions were
aroused due to Arthur Miller's play 'The Crucible'
which was about the witch hunts that took place in
Salem, Massachusetts during the 1700's but could
also be compared to the 'communist witch hunts' and
McCarthyism in America in the 1950s. Comparisons
between the McCarthyism and the Crucible were
inevitable due to the similarities of various
events.
● The Salem Witch Trials
with the whirlwind of unfounded accusations and terrifying
trials were immediately connected with the "Communist Witch
Trials" and McCarthyism
● In the Crucible the
unsubstantiated claims of the girls ruined lives and led to
increased suspicion and hostility
● In the Crucible those who
were accused were assumed guilty, were put on trial and expected
to name and accuse others of being witches
● In the Crucible people
were frightened to defend the accused for fear of being
implicated themselves
The similarities between
McCarthyism and the Crucible were obvious.
McCarthyism - President Harry Truman Video
The article on the
McCarthyism provides detailed facts and a summary of one of the
important events during his presidential term in office from April 12, 1945 to January 20, 1953.
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McCarthyism Facts with important dates and key
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