Elijah Gusick Mrs. Johnson American Government 3 January 2017 Gurd Luk and Gurd Nurt Summary The movie begins on Oct. 25, 1958, at a fancy dinner tribute to Edward R. Murrow, an American broadcast journalist for cbs. Ed Murrow is introduced as a hero who fought against McCarthyism. He comes out and proceeds to make a speech about how journalist have become occupied with only presenting good news in an attempt to hide from the actual matters at hand. In a flashback to 1953 the newsmen at CBS are in a conference room trying to decide news pieces for the next show. McCarthy, a senator who claimed that there were communist spies in every level of government, is brought up, but is immediately shot down due to its controversy. Another topic brought …show more content…
McCarthy is holding a senate hearing on a woman who apparently works in the Pentagon Code Room and is a Communist spy. Although the hearing isn't a real trial, they get the woman fired from her job. The woman in the hearing doesn't actually work in the Code Room and denies any Communist ties, and an FBI agent had only seen her name on a Communist mailing list. The news crew point out several things wrong with the hearing: the woman has the same name as three others in the phone book and McCarthy himself leaves the hearing after only seven questions. Ed brings up all of these points, and also gives McCarthy a chance to defend himself on the …show more content…
The editor mentions that it is against company policy for two employees to be married. The two, in a moment of joy and relief put their rings back on and Joe decides to quit. Then, Bill Paley calls Fred and Ed into his office tells them that CBS lost the Alcoa sponsorship and there will be a mass layoff. Bill tells Ed that his show will be cut down to half the time, moved to Sunday afternoon, and Ed will only be able to do five more shows. Ed and Fred walk to the elevator and say that they might as well go out swinging in their last five shows. Fred mentions that Joe and Shirley were married and Ed appears to be the only one who didn't
In February of 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy made a speech with the purpose of accusing democratic representative, Alger Hiss, of working with the communist Soviets in order to convince the American people to support the Republican party. McCarthy convinces his audience by using syntactical devices, such as anaphoras, rhetorical questions, and parallelism.
After WW2 on february 9, 1950 Joseph McCarthy gave a speech “Enemies from Within” when communism was the biggest threat to the whole world. Joseph McCarthy was a Republican Senate who got famous after his speech. He claimed that there were people in U.S. government who are a member of communist society and also mentioned in his speech that he have a list 57 people. In the speech Joseph McCarthy is appealing to the Republicans and christians, trying to influence them to take action and fight against communism. He uses people's emotional fear to turn them against each other. In his speech he uses allusion, metaphor, and rhetorical appeals.
On February 9, 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy delivered a speech to the Republican Women’s Club of Wheeling in West Virginia where he accused the Secretary of State of knowing that members of the Communist party infiltrated the US government. McCarthy’s accusation of the supposed Communist influence spread rapidly due to the beliefs during the Cold War. McCarthy’s claims created internal investigations to uncover Communist infiltration in the US. In 1947, President Truman responded to the belief that the government was not doing enough to contain Communism by establishing more investigations of executive branch employees and the entertainment industry in Hollywood. The fear of Communism spreading intensified in
Although prosperity filled the 50s, controversy and dissatisfaction surrounded it also. As the picture "Senator McCarthy Extinguishes the Torch of Liberty" conveys, McCarthyism hushed the freedom of speech. (Kennedy, Cohen, and Bailey A127)The man who gave McCarthyism a name, Joseph McCarthy, ruined many lives by accusing tons of Americas of being Communists for about 5 years. The post-cold war paranoia about spies and infiltrates in the American government escalated the allegations to a whole other level, despite the lack of evidence. Many people lost their jobs, went to jail, or became shunned by the public. Senator McCarthy conducted countless numbers of speeches, investigations, and hearings. His actions proved to be so terrifying that very few spoke out against him. Only when taking the claims to the military did the people finally take a stand. Weeks afterward, the Senate condemned McCarthy for “practicing conduct unfit for a member.”
“Miller also observes the tremendous forces that mere accusation had at this time, something that was evident as well in the McCarthy witch-hunts. A man’s career could be ruined if he were merely asked, “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist party?””
Setting is also important, as it refers to the period this book was set in, the 1950’s. Ultimately, it is a reflection of what was happening in American society at the time, and what American society expected from each other. McCarthyism, as started by Senator Joseph McCarthy, was the most prevalent movement of the 1950’s, where there was great momentum for anti-communism and the suppression of the Anti-communist party. Freedom of speech was suppressed, just like speech and actions were inside the hospital. Here, the
Even though McCarthy was a man of noble status, he still possessed a tragic flaw, which stemmed from his fear of losing his reelection. After an unimpressive and uneventful first term in the Senate, McCarthy was willing to take extreme measures to remain in power, so he quickly absorbed himself in false claims against those he suspected to be communists, causing nationwide hysteria and putting him directly in the spotlight. To begin his rise to fame, “On February 9, 1950, McCarthy addressed the Ohio County Women’s Republican Club in Wheeling, West Virginia. In the Wheeling speech, McCarthy played on the Cold War and Red Scare fears (fear of a communist takeover) by asserting that the communist world, particularly the Soviet Union, was in a showdown with the democratic nations led by the United States. McCarthy dramatically held up a list that he claimed contained names of U.S. State Department employees who supposedly were known members of or influenced by the Communist Party” (McCarthy, Joseph R.).
McCarthyism, named after Joseph McCarthy was a period of intense anti-communism, which occurred in the United States from 1948 to about 1956. During this time the government of the United States persecuted the Communist party USA, its leadership, and many others suspected of being communists. The word McCarthyism now carries the suggestion of false, hysterical accusation and large scale attacks on a minority. This anticommunist crusade stumbled in 1954, when the hearings were televised allowing the press and
Also during this time from the late 1940s to the late 1950s began McCarthyism and the scare of Communism being the United States. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin would be pushed into the public spotlight by the issue of anti-Communism. It was discovered later that the FBI had helped give McCarthy the information to help him start his campaign against Communism. For several years, McCarthy operated to seek out and destroy the lives of people whom he or others had declared as being a Communist. Lytle mentions that McCarthy charged that Communists had penetrated the United States by becoming involved in churches, the army, the CIA, and the hydrogen bomb program. Even after McCarthy’s eventual political death, McCarthyism still went on and took longer to fade away. McCarthyism was the lasting legacy of McCarthy that put the nation in a frenzy. It was characterized by false accusations of neighbors, family members, and friends and being part of the Communist party. These accusations meant that these peoples’ lives were over. They had no more authority, respect, or even career opportunities after being accused, albeit falsely.
People were accused of affiliation with the communist party by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Mr. McCarthy shouted names recklessly into a void. He presented the information in a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia and accused around two hundred people in the United States government of association with the communist party (Bayley 16). On February 9, 1950, he stated specifically that people in the State Department were accused. The insane part about it was he did it with little to no evidence of the person (Bayley 22). One reason he may have got away with it for a while was the fact he had connections to the media. McCarthy would give a speech about the trials, or anything to do with it and within hours a source published information about it (CITE!). The rate at which that happened was too rapid for the fifties. Social media did not exist and news did not spread nearly as fast as it does now. It took time in the fifties. Many believed then and even now that the media worked with McCarthy to put out the information he wanted to be heard. Reasons for any of it? Maybe it was some quid pro quo between the media and politicians. Politicians promised the media additional information if they filtered what the general public . Situations similar to paying off the media happen in current day. (INSERT EXAMPLE HERE). Not only the politicians benefitted from it, but the media redeemed what they looked for to project to the public. This
In McCarthy‘s initial telegram to Truman, he claims that the White House contains Communist sympathizers and spies, and that if he doesn‘t release the information related to them, he will be labeled as a traitorous sympathizers to the public. Truman‘s unsent response gives a sharp, precise shutdown to the senator, claiming that the state he is the senator of should be embarrassed because of him.
Edward Murrow broke the realism about McCarthy on the evening of March 9, 1954, by sharing video footage that shown that the Senator was up to no good, and was abusing his political power to do so. Murrow and co-editor Fred Friendly gave controversial information on the man and his shenanigans. In turn, the realization of what Senator McCarthy was truly about, and the evidence that Murrow presented in a live broadcast, eventually
Even though he may seem outspoken in his approach, Murrow proves a valid point as he reveals the error in McCarthy’s thinking as he falsely accuses Radulovich of being a Communist. Due to lack of solid evidence, McCarthy has no stance while accusing Radulovich. Though his sister’s political leanings suggest Communism, Radulovich can only speak for himself and not his sister. (Clooney) Labeling Radulovich a communist, solely based on his family’s alliances is synonymous with claiming that Murrow is a Communist due to his membership in a leftist union. It seems like McCarthy is on a “witch-hunt” of sorts, out to call out anyone who goes against the government or spoke ill of government practices. McCarthy orders the interrogation of Pentagon communication worker Annie Lee Moss, solely based on her name appearing on a blacklist.
Joseph McCarthy, the notorious US senator who causes the McCarthyism era in the 1940s to the 1960s to arise, deceives the American people to lose trust with each other because of suspicion of Communism. McCarthy does not have a really great reputation before following the route of corruption. He simply over exaggerates the growing tension of Communism credits from President Harry Truman’s speech. His reign continues to grow until, “In early 1954 he opened hearings investigating the promotion of an Army dentist, Irving Peress, who was suspected of being a Communist. The Army-McCarthy hearings were televised and made for grand theater as McCarthy sparred with the Army's counsel Joseph Welch” (Capps). Joseph McCarthy is an arrogant and an overconfident man who thinks he can win every court cases until the very end. He believes that whatever
The Movie “good night good luck” is incredibly historically accurate. The Movie uses authentic clips that show McCarthy and many speeches Murrow used. World War ended in 1945 leaving a broken Europe and a communist block behind. The United States quickly receded back to the red scare that had existed before WWII. The United States quickly set an anti-communist stance and prepared for a war against the communists. While the war never came some enterprising individuals placed themselves in powerful positions using the paranoia created. Among these individuals one came forward and began one of the most controversial historical programs. Joe McCarthy a nobody Wisconsin’s junior senator made his name when he gave a speech claiming his