Joseph McCarthy’s Commie Crusade

The Second Red ScareMcCarthy Begins CrusadeArmy-McCarthy HearingsDownfall of McCarthy

Works Cited

The Second Red ScareAmerica’s fear of communism and the

paranoid belief that it would upset capitalism/out government

Began after WWIICauses

Iron Curtain and Soviet expansionChina falls to communismNuclear arms raceEspionage The first Soviet hydrogen

bomb test scared many Americans

The Second Red Scare cont.Left Americans

vulnerableDemagoguery -

impassioned appeals to the prejudices and emotions of the populace

McCarthy Begins CrusadeUnited States Senator (R – Wisconsin)Presented list of 205 people in State

Department to a Republican women’s group in Wheeling, WVAccused of being in Communist PartyList was later reduced to 57 peopleCaused uproar and gained much publicityDid not reveal how names were gathered

Suspected to be from “Lee List”, gathered by the House Appropriations Committee.

McCarthy called for an investigation into these alleged communists and communist sympathizers

McCarthy Begins Crusade cont.

Tydings Committee investigationCommittee directed by Senator Millard

Tydings to investigate McCarthy’s claims.McCarthy could not name a single State

Department employeeRefused to back down, kept making anti-

communist accusationsMcCarthy criticized Dwight. D. Eisenhower

of his own party, saying his administration was sheltering communists

McCarthy wanted to uncover

espionage ring within the U.S

ArmyHearings were held by U.S

Subcommittee on Investigations

•Live television

•Made front pages of newspapers nationally

Gained a lot of publicity

•Army counter-charged that McCarthy and aide used power to get Schine promotion in Army and special treatment

•This was found to be correct

G. David Schine – chief consultant / private in Army.

Army-McCarthy Hearings

Army-McCarthy Hearings cont.McCarthy’s rude, uncivilized behavior

became one of the focus points of the hearings“Have you no sense of decency, sir?”

~Joseph WelchThe hearings lasted from April 1954 to June

1954. They were televised in AprilClaims remained unjustified

De-popularization of McCarthy and

McCarthyismMcCarthy’s rude behavior from the Army-

McCarthy Hearings lost him supportCensured by Senate in simple Resolution

301 (vote of 67 to 22)

Lost respect of legislative peers for not providing evidence of claims that divided and scared the public

McCarthy’s mental and physical health decreased after censureAlcoholism increased

Died May 2, 1957 from acute cirrhosis of the liver due to alcoholism

The End

X X

Works Cited"Commie Pix." Tagg.org. Web. 23 Feb. 2010.

<http://tagg.org/rants/commies/commypix.htm>."Demagoguery, demagogy." Answers.com. Web. 22 Feb.

2010. <http://www.answers.com/topic/demagoguery-demagogy>.

"Joseph McCarthy: Biography." Appleton Public Library. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. <http://www.apl.org/history/mccarthy/biography.html>.

"Joseph McCarthy Biography." Biography.com. Web. 23 Feb. 2010. <http://www.biography.com/articles/Joseph-McCarthy-9390801>.

"McCarthyism." Absolute Astronomy. Web. 23 Feb. 2010. <http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/McCarthyism>.

Works Cited cont."McCarthy Hearings." United States History.

Web. 24 Feb. 2010. <http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1769.html>.

Senate Resolution 301, December 2, 1954; SEN 83A-B4, Records of the United States Senate; Record Group 46; National Archives

Zhumanonline. "Army McCarthy Hearings "Have you no decency"" YouTube. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqQD4dzVkwk>.