Mccarthy and Communism in The 1950s
by In 1950 America’s big scare was Communism. The whole country was looking for a communist behind every bush and all because of the lies or wild imagination of Senator Joseph McCarthy, the senator from Wisconsin. In some old obscure documents he had found, even he didn’t know where. People were blacklisted and careers and lives were forever ruined with his accusations of American citizens belonging to the Communist party.
Does anyone remember what McCarthyism was? It all started in the early 1950s when the Senator of Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy read some old obsolete documents that related to investigations of Communists in government jobs. McCarthy told a women’s club in Wheeling, West Virginia that he held a list of 205 men in the State Department named as members of the Communist Party who were part of a spy ring.
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Even McCarthy wasn’t sure where he had gotten them. This was the beginning of “The Big Lie” that was fabricated by a desperate man. You would think it would have ended his career as a senator, but America believed what he had to say.
The Senate Committee investigated and refuted the evidence but they were ignored. McCarthy caught the public eye and his accusations made good headlines that sold newspapers. The investigations dismissing his charges were buried so deeply nobody knew about them. In 1950 the patriotic stand against Communism had broad support of the media and the people.
It was a smear campaign of groundless accusations and finger pointing. The “black listing” ruined many careers and people’s lives. After blacklisting average citizens, movie stars and government workers, McCarthy began to attack certain army officers as Communists. But this time he over reached himself. The army was Ike’s turf. Eisenhower and the army fought back.
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They investigated David Schine, who being drafted into the army, had used McCarthy’s influence to win soft military assignments. The media also turned on him. Radio reporter Edward R. Murrow who had brought the Blitz of London to America on the radio during the war, took aim at McCarthy on his TV program, by showing clips of McCarthy without editorializing, showing him up for the liar and wind bag he was.
His crudeness and unfounded accusations were revealed during the thirty six days of the Army-McCarthy hearings. The tables were turned. By 1954, McCarthy was condemned by his peers and his public support had vanished. He died of health problems brought on by alcoholism in 1957.
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Post CommentNoisy Cricket
On April 21, 2011 at 10:24 pm
A very good read. Thank you for sharing.
LCM Linda
On April 21, 2011 at 11:17 pm
Interesting topic. McCarthyism is something new to me.
galore
On April 21, 2011 at 11:27 pm
nice article
lapasan
On April 22, 2011 at 12:41 am
What McCarthy did was a witch hunt on alleged communists.
CHIPMUNK
On April 22, 2011 at 2:02 am
I am not the one for communism
Dreamy777
On April 22, 2011 at 10:26 am
great one
PR Mace
On April 22, 2011 at 11:24 pm
I have to agree with the comment that it was a witch hunt. Good look back into history.
juliachild
On April 29, 2011 at 12:55 am
thanks for sharing…