Senator Joseph McCarthy

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Senator Joseph McCarthy
and the 2nd Red Scare
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McCarthyism

• the use of intimidation and unfounded
  accusations in the name of fighting communism (or
  other political targets)
• Also described as a witch hunt

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Red scares

• Red Scare a fear in society, media and politics
  that communism would upset the capitalist social
  order in the United States.
• 1st Red Scare 1917 to 1920, fear of worker
  revolution and political radicalism
• 2nd Red Scare 1947 to 1957, fear of (national
  and foreign) communists infiltrating the US
  Federal Government.

Coming Ashore. Literary Digest,
7/12/19. Originally from the Brooklyn Eagle
(Harding).
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An atmosphere of fear

• Government propaganda
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vAWeZ5SKXvj8NR1
• TV was fairly new, what effect would this have
  had on people?
• Do you think everyone would have believed it?
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vw86QhV7whjsfeature
  related
• What visual elements are used to illustrate the
  point of this video?
• Duck and Cover. 1951. The threat of the nuclear
  bomb http//www.youtube.com/watch?v-2kdpAGDu8sf
  eaturefvst

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Cleaning the Nest! Literary Digest,
1/17/20. Originally from the New York Evening
World (Cassel). political cartoon
Cartoon from 1920
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Cartoon from 1960
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Post war US politics

• Roosevelts New Deal, a (now famous) economic
  policy to counter the effects of the Great
  Depression in the 1930s.
• The New Deal massive government spending and
  government involvement, liberal, social-welfare
  ethos ? left wing policies.

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Post war US politics

• Roosevelt died April 1945, Truman became
  president.
• Truman was under pressure to appeal to voters on
  the right side of the political spectrum.
• Fear of Communism was used to increase and
  justify a return to conservative, more right
  wing policies.

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See any connection?
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Trumans loyalty oath

• There shall be a loyalty investigation of every
  person entering the civilian employment of any
  department or agency of the executive branch of
  the Federal Government.
• Truman opposed the loyalty oaths but he had to
  counter criticism that he was soft on Communism.

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Sign posts to McCarthyism

• Alien registration act 1940
• Made it illegal for anyone in the US to advocate,
  abet, teach the desirability of overthrowing the
  government.
• All alien (non-citizen) inhabitants of US had
  to file a comprehensive statement of their
  personal and political beliefs.
• Within 4 months, 5 million aliens had been
  registered.

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Sign posts to McCarthyism

• 1947, Truman establishes the Federal Loyalty
  Oath, barring all alleged subversives from
  government employment.
• States and Universities soon do the same.

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Who was Joseph McCarthy?

• Senator, opportunist, demagogue, alcoholic, gay
• Claimed (in a speech) to have a list of 205 names
  of communists working in the State Department
• Ruined the reputations of dozens of officials
  without a shred of evidence
• Viewed as a patriot (at first)
• Accused FDR, Truman, General Marshall, Secretary
  of State, the Army and many other high ranking
  people of Communism

A demagogue a political leader who gains power
by appealing to people's emotions, instincts, and
prejudices in a way that is considered
manipulative and dangerous
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McCarthys hearings

• Between 1950 and 1954, Senator Joseph McCarthy
  terrorised many people in the US with his public
  investigations and unsubstantiated accusations
  of Communist activity.
• McCarthy called people from all walks of life to
  his hearings, including officials from the US
  State Department and the US Army.
• Officials, workers, teachers, professors, actors,
  writers and many more were forced to resign in
  the face of Cold War public opinion.
• In 1954, The US Senate finally censured McCarthy
  for his unscrupulous methods of inquiry.

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HUAC

• House Committee of Un-American Activities HUAC
  (sometimes HCUA) 19381975
• It was an investigative committee of the US House
  of Representatives, was NOT chaired by Joe
  McCarthy.
• HUAC became most famous when it began
  investigating Hollywood (The Hollywood Ten)

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Connection between FBI and McCarthyism.

• Joseph McCarthy and members of HUAC received
  information on many people from the FBI.
• J. Edgar Hoover was a notorious communist hater
  and a hard line conservative.

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Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

• Joe McCarthy had his own committee
• The Media was present at all hearings, everything
  was broadcast on the new TV medium.
• McCarthy chaired these meetings in his own
  style which ultimately became his downfall.
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v7d3jkmfCuSA1m40s

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Who were the Hollywood Ten?

• 10 prominent writers, directors who had been
  members of the communist party
• HUAC used their prominence coupled with the fear
  of communism to gain publicity
• The Ten pleaded the 5th amendment, were accused
  of contempt of Congress and some were sentenced
  to 1 year in jail. (Some were released early)
• Many other actors, writers, producers and
  directors were blacklisted by Hollywood ( unable
  to find work in film industry)
• There were many on the general blacklist. Most
  famous ones today Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles,
  Arthur Miller

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The Fifth Amendment Commies
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The Hollywood Ten

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Anti-Comm movies produced in the 50s
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Fear of the unknown
In his autobiography, "I Thought We Were Making
Movies, Not History", Walter Mirisch writes
"People began to read meanings into pictures that
were never intended. The Invasion of the Body
Snatchers is an example of that. I remember
reading a magazine article arguing that the
picture was intended as an allegory about the
communist infiltration of America. From personal
knowledge, neither Walter Wanger nor Don Siegel,
who directed it, nor Dan Mainwaring, who wrote
the script nor the original author Jack Finney,
nor myself saw it as anything other than a
thriller, pure and simple".