Joseph McCarthy was a Democrat-turned-Progressive Republican from Wisconsin who became a U.S. senator in 1946 by attacking opponents and exaggerating his war record. There were major fears of Communists infiltrating the U.S. government at the time, and McCarthy used these fears to his advantage by making sensational accusations against government officials. However his arrogant demeanor clouded the fact that Communist subversion truly did exist.
McCarthy at Wheeling
In a speech before the Women’s Republican Club in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1950, Senator McCarthy declared, "I have here in my hand a list of 205—a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department."
As proof that the State Department was harboring Communists, McCarthy provided a three year-old dossier. Opponents claimed that the people in the dossier were no longer employed by the State Department, making McCarthy’s charges irrelevant. Supporters argued that the people had definite ties to communism and should not have been working in such a sensitive government department in the first place.
While some members of Congress from both parties denounced McCarthy’s accusations, he caused a sensation among the public and soon became an extremely popular national figure.
The Tydings Committee
In response to McCarthy’s charges, the Tydings Committee conducted hearings in the Senate. Many Democrats on the committee were outraged by McCarthy’s charges against the Democratic Truman administration and sought to discredit him. The committee concluded that McCarthy’s charges were a "fraud and a hoax" intended to "confuse and divide the American people… to a degree far beyond the hopes of the Communists themselves."
However later evidence refuted the committee’s findings. In one instance, the Justice Department had declined to prosecute journalists and government officials arrested for divulging classified information to Communist sympathizers. It was later revealed that Democratic lobbyists had conspired to bury the case.
Ultimately the Tydings Committee did nothing to stop McCarthy’s crusade, and his approval rating among the public remained high. When President Harry Truman was replaced by Republican Dwight Eisenhower in 1953, McCarthy continued railing against suspected Communists in Eisenhower’s administration. Saying nothing publicly, Eisenhower privately sought to reduce McCarthy’s power and influence.
The Army-McCarthy Hearings
In the fall of 1953, McCarthy began investigating suspected communism in the U.S. Army. When he verbally berated a high-ranking general and World War II hero for refusing to answer some questions, McCarthy caused outrage among the military, the press, veterans, politicians of both parties, and the president.
In the "Army-McCarthy" hearings of 1954, McCarthy accused the Secretary of the Army of interfering with McCarthy’s investigation. The senator’s crude and boorish manner was witnessed by 20 million Americans watching the hearings on television. This led to an enormous public backlash against him, culminating in the U.S. Army counsel finally berating McCarthy: "Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"
Although McCarthy was discredited due to his unseemly demeanor, the fact was that the committee exonerated him from any wrongdoing while finding that the Secretary of the Army had indeed attempted to block subpoenas by lobbying certain committee members. Nevertheless, the public and members of Congress quickly turned against the senator.
The Fall of Joe McCarthy
In December 1954, the Senate condemned McCarthy for "conduct… unbecoming a Member of the United States Senate…" The resolution focused on the senator’s conduct and did not refute any of his anti-Communist accusations. This effectively ended McCarthy’s career, as his colleagues avoided him and the public abandoned him. He continued serving in the Senate until his death in 1957 from cirrhosis, which some have claimed was the result of heavy drinking.
Even as McCarthy was being condemned, a series of strong anti-Communist bills were being introduced in Congress. Some historians have claimed that McCarthy conducted a "reign of terror," but even at the peak of McCarthy’s popularity, the Communist Party continued operating undisturbed in the U.S. and nobody testifying before McCarthy was ever indicted, tried or jailed for any crime.
Furthermore, classified documents released after the fall of the Soviet Union revealed that McCarthy had actually underestimated the number of Communist sympathizers in the U.S. government. While McCarthy’s methods were unethical and intrusive, he may have been closer to the truth than those who ridiculed and condemned him.
Sources
Schweikart, Larry and Allen, Michael: A Patriot’s History of the United States (New York, NY: Penguin Group, Inc., 2004)
Wallechinsky, David and Wallace, Irving: The People’s Almanac (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1975)
Woods, Jr., Thomas E.: The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2004)
Zinn, Howard: A People’s History of the United States (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1980)
Walter Coffey - Walter Coffey is a freelance writer who resides in Houston, Texas. Walter has written several works of historical fiction and non-fiction, ...
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