McCarthyism

As the Cold War began, The Soviet Union began to take control of Eastern European countries, which spread communism to these areas. When China became a communist state, Americans became fearful of their nation’s security, since 100000 Americans had also identified themselves as supporters of the communist party. As anti-communist sentiment increased, The Federal Employee Loyalty Program and the House Un-American Activities Committee were formed in 1947. The purpose of both of these organizations was to prosecute people and organizations perceived as being disloyal, and this began the trend of prosecuting suspected communists.

In 1950, Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy had acquired a bad reputation as a legislator, and in order to get reelected in 1952, he made the decision to pursue the issue of communist government conspiracies as a sort of publicity stunt. McCarthy first gained a surge in popularity when he made a speech on Lincoln Day in 1950, saying that the government was “infested with communists”. In the early 1950s, McCarthy began accusing people of being communist in spite of having no evidence to back up his claims, and this practice became known as “McCarthyism”. At one point, McCarthy claimed to have the names of 205 communists in the State Department, and furthermore, he accused the Democratic Party of allowing communist infiltration into the government. Generally, Republicans did not speak out against his accusations because they believed the policy of purging communists would help them win the 1952 Presidential election.

In 1954, McCarthy accused the US army of housing and favoring communists, and this began the televised Army-McCarthy Hearings, where McCarthy acted as the prosecutor. However, as newspapers began reporting the court proceedings, the American public began to view McCarthy’s approach as reckless and devious, and within a few months, in addition to being severely censured by the rest of the Senate, his popularity with the public dropped significantly. Although McCarthy still served out the remainder of his term as Senator and continued to speak out against communism, the press no longer paid attention to him, and likewise, the general public lost interest in him.

Written by: Derek O'Connor