Senator Joseph McCarthy

1. Senator Joseph McCarthy and the 2nd Red Scare

2. McCarthyism: = the use of intimidation and unfounded accusations in the name of fighting communism (or other political targets) Also described as a witch hunt

3. 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).

4. An atmosphere of fear: • Government propaganda: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWeZ5SKXvj8&NR=1 • 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?v=w86QhV7whjs&feature=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=-2kdpAGDu8s&feature=fvst

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

6. Cartoon from 1960

7. Post war US politics: • Roosevelt’s “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.

8. 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.

9. See any connection?

10. Truman’s 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. Who was Joseph McCarthy? 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 • 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

14. McCarthy’s 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.

15. HUAC • House Committee of Un-American Activities = HUAC (sometimes HCUA) 1938–1975 • 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”)

16. 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.

17. 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?v=7d3jkmfCuSA=1m40s

19. 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

20. ‘The Fifth Amendment Commies’

21. The Hollywood Ten

24. Anti-Comm movies produced in the 50s

25. 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".”