McCarthy and The Red Scare

Senator McCarthy

After practicing as a lawyer for two years, Joseph McCarthy began his career in politics with an unsuccessful campaign for District Attorney for Shawano, Wisconsin. Three years later in 1939 McCarthy campaigned again for the position of Judge in Tenth Judicial Circuit. McCarthy was successful, and at age 30 he became the youngest circuit judge elected in Wisconsin. Although McCarthy was credited for being fair and a hard-worker, he lost his position as judge after “abusing judicial authority” for tampering with court records. In 1942 McCarthy took a break from his political career and became a first Lieutenant in the Marines during World War 2. After his time in the military, McCarthy ran unopposed for the circuit court in 1946. At 38 McCarthy became the youngest member of the U.S. Senate.

On February 9, 1950, McCarthy became engaged in a topic overtaking the nation; Communism. McCarthy addressed a Republican women’s group in Wheeling, West Virginia. In this speech McCarthy made the charge that U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson knew of 205 communists in the State Department, stating "Today we are engaged in a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity. The modern champions of communism have selected this as the time. And, ladies and gentlemen, the chips are down—they are truly down."

 Regardless of the accuracy of this claim (McCarthy would later change his numbers in other versions of the same speech, and a telegram from President Truman cites a list of only 57 names), these statements caused mass panic throughout the United States, sparking the “Red Scare”. In the aftermath of the infamous Wheeling speech, and McCarthy’s subsequently constant tirades against communism, he became a driving force in the development of HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee), and a prominent member of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations, both aimed at detecting and convicting communist spies.

Senator McCarthy was most known for his temper, as well as his paranoia. Convinced that the “Reds” were taking over the country, he was ruthless in his witch hunt. In nationally televised committee hearings, he grilled Americans of all class, race and gender about their alleged communist connections, and encouraged American citizens to report any and all communist activity. Because of his merciless approach and the sheer number of the convicted and/or blacklisted citizens, many of whom proved innocent, the senator’s methods were often criticized by the educated, including President Eisenhower and Edward R. Murrow.



After Murrow’s broadcast of his special episode of See It Now in March 1954, which highlighted the injustices being committed by McCarthy, the Senator’s approval rating dropped considerably, almost overnight. Although he accepted Murrow’s invitation to appear on the show, his rebuttals were weak and not enough to improve his ratings. Shortly after, he was censured by the U.S. Senate. His reputation had been diminished, the press began to ignore him and he only continued his senatorial duties for a further two years before retiring.

After the show aired the Army made public charges against McCarthy and Roy Cohn, an aide of McCarthy. The report stated that McCarthy and Cohn had pressured the Army to grant G. David Schine special treatment. Schine was a former aide of McCarthy who had been drafted into the Army. McCarthy fired back at the army with charges stating that Schine was used a hostage to pressure McCarthy. The hearings were broadcasted on television and as a result, McCarthy’s image took a sharp decline that never recovered.

In 1954 McCarthy was put under investigation himself. The Senate found that he had abused his powers, and stated that his actions were “inexcusable," "reprehensible," and "vulgar and insulting." While McCarthy still stayed in the Senate, he lost almost all power and public attention. On May 2, 1957 McCarthy died of acute hepatitis. While McCarthys reputation was ruined, and his word worth nothing by the time of his death, the fact remains that those he accused dealt with the consequences of his actions for the rest of their lives.

The Red Scare


The Red Scare was a very real thing in american society. Although today we may forget, it had a profound influence on our lives, helping shape the future of the privacy vs. freedom debate that is constantly being waged in america. Here are a few examples of just how far the Red Scare went.

There were actually 2 Red Scares. The first occurred in 1917, after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. In 1919 a plot to mail 36 bombs to prominent Americans was discovered. In June, 8 bombs simultaneously exploded across the country. Evidence was found linking the bombings to an Italian-American extremist. Shortly after, Attorney General Palmer ordered what are now known as the Palmer Raids. These were widely found to be in violation of the fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth amendment, but no one cared. The Washington Post wrote "There is no time to waste on hairsplitting over [the] infringement of liberty"

The bombers shirt reads, "European Anarchy"

The stage was set for the second red scare, known as McCarthyism. The second red scare was begun almost single handedly by McCarthy, although he was not alone in his beliefs. McCarthy fueled the fires of fear that were already present. Below are a few examples of propaganda from that time period, showing just  how scared people were of the "Reds"

 No one was safe from McCarthy's accusations, including celebrities and other highly public figures. One such figure was the playwright Arthur Miller. Miller was married to Marilyn Monroe, and was very well known for his popular plays. After being accused by McCarthy of communism however, he was blacklisted in Hollywood. This was in no way uncommon. Those accused would frequently "cooperate" or give names of other people who were communists. While untrue, these confessions served to turn the public eye away from the confessor, thus saving them some credibility. Miller however, refused to submit. In response to the accusations he was faced with he wrote The Crucible, which draws a parallel between the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, to the modern day witch hunt of McCarthyism.

Take a brief look at the movie The Crucible here.