Mccarthy
MccarthyThroughout the early 1950’s, the nation was deeply engrossed in fears of a Communist takeover. At a time when America’s fears were at their very height, Joseph McCarthy, a Republican Senator from Wisconsin pushed America’s fears to an extreme. As a ploy to get himself re-elected, and to make America hate Communism as much as he did, the Senator devised a devious scheme. McCarthy, while giving a speech, held up a piece of paper and exclaimed, “I have here a list of 57 known Communists who are currently employed by the U.S. State Department” (Fried, 89). A few days later, McCarthy raised the number of people on the list from 57 to 205. The reaction to McCarthy’s announcement was absolute panic. Until that time, the nation had a sense of security. Now all peace of mind was lost, and America wanted these people that were on McCarthy’s so called “Blacklist” (Fried, 65). So began a long-term search by Congress to seek these individuals. One group that was extensively looked at was Hollywood. By Joseph McCarthy abusing his powers, he not only destroyed many people’s lives, but he also wronged the American public.
To begin with, the type of person that Joe McCarthy was must be considered. McCarthy was a hard-line Republican who played along strict party lines. By all considerations, he was an extremist or a reactionary. By holding a piece of paper, and saying that the enemy who everyone feared was so close, McCarthy diminished all thoughts that America was truly safe. The actual piece of paper was blank; McCarthy had no writing on the paper at all. He knew that by telling the people of the U.S. that the enemy was so close, he could finally see a war erected against Communism. He simply used the people’s ambitions and fears to make a mountain out of a molehill. Communism in America before McCarthy’s debacle was simply a buzzword. Everyone knew about it, but no one ever talked about it. The first knowledge many American’s had of Communism came from Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain Speech” (Matusow, 45). Churchill basically said in his speech that the Soviet Union was pushing forward a global Communist takeover. And Churchill also said that he believed, “We should not let such a force loose on the planet” (Matusow, 46). That was the first time many American eyes were opened to Communism, and McCarthy made sure it was not the last. The entire chaos that Senator McCarthy caused had become collectively known as “The Red Scare” (Feuerlicht, 34). McCarthy used this entire “Red Scare” idea to boost his hopes for re-election. But an elected official is supposed to be a representative of the people. All McCarthy did was abuse his power and pull the wool over the people’s eyes. McCarthy did not work for the benefit of the people. He only worked for the benefit of himself.
Next, the people whose lives McCarthy destroyed must be looked at. In the immediate aftermath of McCarthy’s...
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