McCarthyism and the Red Scare

By Roy Tanksley



The United States had two periods of extreme anti-communism both known as the Red Scare. The first occurred from 1917 to 1920, directly after World War I. The second occurred after World War II from the late 1940s throughout the 1950s. In both periods, Americans became increasingly paranoid that friends, family, neighbors, teachers, and politicians were communist or communist sympathizers. Extreme measures were taken to “protect” the democratic United States from the evil socialist and communist governments.

The second Red Scare followed on the heels of the Great Depression and World War II. As most countries were settling into a peaceful existence, Russia began aligning itself with other communist countries with a plan to dominate the world. Once an ally of the United States, Russia organized with other surrounding countries renaming this coalition Union of Soviet Socialist Republics also known as the USSR. Over the next few years many Americans came to believe that the communists had infiltrated the United States government, colleges and universities, unions, Hollywood entertainers, directors and writers, as well as others in positions of spreading Communist propaganda.

One of the first people to begin reacting to and stirring up the paranoia that had settled over the USA was Albert Canwell, a member of Washington State’s House of Representatives. One of his 1946 campaign promises was to do something about Communism in America. Canwell helped to set up the Washington State Joint Legislative Committee on Un-American Activities, later becoming known as the Canwell Committee. This committee was responsible for investigating Washington State citizens that were simply rumored to be communist sympathizers. In the wake of these hearings, a number of professors from the University of Washington were subpoenaed to testify and three professors lost their jobs.

This trend spread like wildfire across the United States. Over 200 college and university professors were investigated, many losing their positions and were unable to teach again. Actors, directors, and writers were blacklisted, ultimately destroying their careers. No one was safe from this witch hunt. Neighbor reported neighbor for suspicious activities; family members turned on each other; news reporters were censored due to fear of being labeled communist sympathizers.

The most notorious player in the Red Scare was a United States senator from Wisconsin named Joseph McCarthy. Elected to the senate in 1947, McCarthy was a noted orator and was asked to speak to numerous groups. On February 9, 1950, while giving speech to the Republican Women's Club of Wheeling, West Virginia, McCarthy supposedly produced a piece of paper and claimed it help the names of 205 members of the Communist Party working in the State Department. Later, he lowered the number to 57.

Suddenly, Senator McCarthy was caught up in a tidal wave of press and media. An investigation ensued and a committee headed by democratic Senator Millard Tydings began hearings to determine if McCarthy actually had a list. No list was ever produced, but many of the names Senator McCarthy accused were from a list previously compiled by a former FBI agent named Robert Lee.

Riding the wave of frenzy created by his “whistle blowing,” Senator McCarthy became a powerful force in the nation. Many people were concerned about his methods, yet most were afraid to speak out due to fear of being accused of being pro-communist. President Truman and Senator McCarthy were at odds. McCarthy accused Truman of turning a blind eye to the communist threat in the State Department and twenty years of treason, and Truman responded that McCarthy was “the best asset the Kremlin has” (Herman 2000). McCarthy accused Truman’s Secretary of Defense George Catlett Marshall of retreating from victory and blamed him for the loss of China to communism. Secretary Marshall is best known for the Marshall Plan that reorganized Europe after World War II, and Marshall was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.

In 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected President of the United States, and McCarthy was re-elected for a second term. Though a fellow republican, Eisenhower did not support McCarthy’s tactics. Butting heads, McCarthy recreated his slogan to twenty-one years of treason, including President Eisenhower in his snipe.

Fellow republicans became concerned as to the means and methods McCarthy used, thus they appointed him as chairman of the Senate Committee on Government Operations in hopes of putting him somewhere that he could not stir up so much trouble. One of the subcommittees of S. C. G. O. was the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. McCarthy appointed Roy Cohn as chief council and Robert Kennedy as assistant council to the subcommittee.

When the subcommittee began investigating the United States Army claiming the Army Signal Corps laboratory at Fort Monmouth were involved in a dangerous spy ring. These accusations proved fruitless, so McCarthy went after Irving Peress, a New York dentist who had been in the army and promoted to major when it was discovered he was a member of the left-winged American Labor Party. Ultimately, Peress refused to answer questions for the subcommittee. Brigadier General Ralph Zwicker honorably discharged Peress. McCarthy went after Zwicker. Zwicker refused t answer some of the subcommittee’s questions. McCarthy attacked Zwicker’s character, military experience, and patriotism. The attacks on Zwicker, a war hero, brought the ire of President Eisenhower, fellow senators, the American public, and the United States Army.

In 1954, the U. S. Army went after McCarthy by accusing him and Roy Cohn of improperly pressuring the army to give special favors to Cohn’s friend, G. David Schine, a former aide to McCarthy and a private in the army. A nationally televised trial, lasting 36 days, was watched by 20 million people. McCarthy was found innocent, but Cohn was found guilty. In spite of his innocence, McCarthy’s popularity diminished.

That same year, Edward R. Murrow hosted a documentary on his weekly show, See It Now. By using footage of McCarthy, the show emphasized his bullying and misstatements. The pressure was mounting and the American people began to clamor for justice concerning McCarthy.

On March 9, 1954, Republican Senator Ralph Flanders made a speech comparing McCarthy to Hitler, and accusing him of “spreading confusion and division” among the American people (Woods 1995). On June 11, Flanders introduced a resolution to have Senator McCarthy removed from all committees he chaired. Finally, Flanders made a motion to censure the junior representative from Wisconsin. After months of investigation, McCarthy was censured for “failing to cooperate with the Subcommittee on Rules and Administration," and "repeatedly abused the members who were trying to carry out assigned duties..." (State Res 301).

The Red Scare continued the entirety of the Cold War. Joseph McCarthy remained a United States senator until his death, at the age of 48, on May 2, 1957 from hepatitis presumably from alcoholism. In the last years of his life, he suffered from cirrhosis of the liver and was hospitalized numerous times for alcoholism. (The Passing, 1957)

When the records of the subcommittee meetings were opened to the public in 2003, Senators Susan Collins and Carl Levin wrote:

Senator McCarthy’s zeal to uncover subversion and espionage led to disturbing excesses. His browbeating tactics destroyed careers of people who were not involved in the infiltration of our government. His freewheeling style caused both the Senate and the Subcommittee to revise the rules governing future investigations, and prompted the courts to act to protect the Constitutional rights of witnesses at Congressional hearings... These hearings are a part of our national past that we can neither afford to forget nor permit to reoccur. (Collins 2003)

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