Essay about Senator Joseph McCarthy and Communism

Vivian Gonzalez Mr. Martinez-Ramos A.P. United States History May 3, 2000 McCarthyism was one of the saddest events of American history. It destroyed people’s lives and shattered many families. It threw innocent people into a whirlwind of mass confusion and fictional portrayals of their lives. McCarthyism spawned for the country’s new found terror of Communism known as the red scare. McCarthyism was an extreme version of the red scare, a scare whose ends did not justify the means. The Red Scare happened twice in the history of this great country. When the communist took over Russia in 1919, the American people were unnerved. They were afraid of a communist take over in the states. When the First World War ended in 1918, there was still

Joseph McCarthy was born in a small town in Wisconsin on November 15, 1908. After quitting school at the age of fourteen, he had a short stint as a chicken farmer and became the manager of a local grocery store (“McCarthy”). At the age of twenty he completed the four year high school curriculum in nine short

Senator Joseph McCarthy was born on November 15, 1908, in Grand Chute, Wisconsin. Joseph attended Marquette University after completing the Little Wolf High School’s 4 year curriculum in just nine months. While at Marquette he practiced law and became the president of his law school class. After gaining his law degree in 1935, he joined a firm in Shawano and became partner in just 2 years.

These lies, and many others, helped him become a senator which gave him the platform to project his beliefs and become highly influential. Lastly, fear is a driving factor that McCarthy was able to use to scare people. Very few men or women had the courage to object to McCarthy's insane accusations because they knew that they would risk losing their job and reputation. "At a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, he waved a piece of paper and said it contained the names of 205 communists who work in the U.S. State Department." (22) Reader. Although McCarthy was lying about this list, it didn't matter as he was a master of publicity and people started to believe him. McCarthy used the psychology of fear to manipulate the public into not exercising their freedom of speech or challenging his accusations which fueled his power. Overall, McCarthy's ability to fool the public was what gained him so much power, however his ways were short lived as the Senate voted to censure McCarthy and his power diminished as quickly as it had been

Army officials of knowingly harboring Communists in their ranks. Many of his protagonists viewed him as going too far with this speculation. McCarthy soon found himself being investigated by Congress and the F.B.I., which was so-called Army-McCarthy Hearings. The Senate voted 67 to 22 to censure Senator McCarthy making him the fourth Senator who had been censured by the Senate.Dishonesty and malice were at the root of the Salem Witch Delusion and the Red Scare. Two contemporary individuals were blessed with the power to manipulate the justice system to their own advantages. Their vindictiveness brought their supremacy and reliability to a halt. Given that history repeated itself once, a strong atrociousness remains that it will repeat it’s self again. With those assumptions, in present times, we now have the fear ISIS that hey are a direct consequence of the Cold War-era governmental apparatus that statists grafted onto our constitutional republic after World War II that is known as the national-security state. In order to maintain this alien, undemocratic-like instrument in existence, fear had to become very

In 1946, McCarthy entered the U.S. Congress and was the youngest member of the Senate. His first term we not impressive, so when it was time for re-election McCarthy looked for ways to ensure his success. During this time period, the Cold War had caused fear among the American citizens towards communism. As tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union grew stronger, so did the fear. As a result, Edward Walsh told McCarthy to create a crusade against the communists. McCarthy agreed to this and took advantage of the citizens’ fear of communism.

His early years were not the greatest. He dropped out of school at the age of fourteen. Luckily as an early adult, he went back to school to get his highschool degree. According to (Llewellyn, Southey, & Thompson, 2014), “McCarthy had by then set his mind on a career in politics, and he chose his jobs accordingly. He lobbied unsuccessfully to become a district attorney, before becoming Wisconsin’s youngest judge at age 30.”

There was an uprise in the political world during the 1950’s that most blamed Senator Joseph McCarthy for. The fear of communism had many American’s distraught. Anti-communism was on the rise, which caused hysteria within the U.S citizens and their leaders. Senator Joseph McCarthy started most of the uproar and took charge exposing communist and those thought to be flight-risks; this time was known as the McCarthy era or The Red Scare. It was called the red scare because communists were often referred to as “Reds” for their allegiance to the red Soviet flag.

Republican senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin stood as the unmistakable leader for anti-Communism. McCarthy’s intention to draw attention was prominent when he made a notable speech regarding the infestation of Communist control in the State Department. His aim to receive publicity skyrocketed and lead him make false accusations of Communist control against Democrats in the United States. Even Senator Lyndon B. Johnson said McCarthy was “the sorriest senator in Washington. But he’s riding high now, he’s got people scared to death…”

"Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist party?" During the late 1940's and 1950's the topic of communism had developed into everyday conversation for all Americans considering the end of the World War 11, and the beginning of the cold war. In 1952 a man named Joseph McCarthy was elected into the senate for Wisconsin. He won mostly won because of interest in the issues of communism. Joseph McCarthy began to weed out the communism he thought existed in America. He began to accuse writers and actors and other entertainers, most of whom were labeled communist sympathizers and were no longer able to work. Some of those who were accused had their passports taken away while others were put into

Joseph McCarthy, born on November 14, 1908 was a U.S. senator from Wisconsin and became a national figure in a highly publicized pursuit of a communist "conspiracy." Because of him, the term McCarthyism became a synonym for a public "witch-hunt" intended to destroy the victim's political standing and public character. McCarthy’s first years in the Senate average and at the very least slightly dishonorable. As a number of his past adventures (including some questionable tax returns) began catching up with him, he needed an issue that would distract attention from his dealings. In a speech in Wheeling West Virginia on February 9, 1950, McCarthy claimed to have in hand a list of two hundred and five people in the State Department known to be members

“On February 9, 1950, he claimed he had a list of 205 people in the State Department who were known members of the American Communist Party” . While McCarthy was still in the Senate, he relentlessly investigated and questioned numerous government departments as well as accused several innocent citizens. This practice of unfair allocations, witch hunts, and panic became known as McCarthyism. The central purpose behind these hearings was to expose American Communists and protect the country.

As Eisenhower took the role of president amid the McCarthy crusade, he decided to handle the problem outright by appointing McCarthy to a relatively meaningless position, chair of the Government Committee on Operations of the Senate, him and his counterparts believed would keep McCarthy occupied and unproblematic until they could formulate a more permanent solution. Eisenhower’s appointment of McCarthy to this committee was his one mistake, as McCarthy took the opportunity to create “McCarthy’s Committee” out of the

There was much protesting against communism. many new stations such as ABC and especially CBS broadcasted regarding the terror that spread due to McCarthyism. Hosts of popular radio shows would dedicate a whole show criticising McCarthy or discuss what was happening. A Senate subcommittee was formed to investigate McCarthy's strategies. ABC broadcasted the hearings live, this was the first time political hearings were on television. The hearings were known as The Army-McCarthy hearings which dominated television for three months and exposed McCarthy's strategies. A big part was contributed by Joseph Welch, The harsh Boston lawyer hired by the Army. When McCarthy fired at Welch, he responded cleverly: "Until thus moment, Senator, I think i had

In February 1950, appearing at the Ohio County Women’s Republican Club in Wheeling, West Virginia, McCarthy gave a speech that propelled him into the national spotlight. Waving a piece of paper in the air, he declared that he had a list of 205 known members of the Communist Party who were “working and shaping policy” in the State