McCarthyism

By Ted Wilkes at en.wikipedia (Transferred from en.wikipedia) [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons

In my first blog, I ranted about how I seldom learned about the American Revolution in high school, on the count of we had to cover everything for the exams. Well, McCarthyism was yet another topic I seldom learned, and again Rodger Streitmatter managed to capture my attention on the topic at hand exactly where I left off. I just want to put this out there: my mind has not changed about Joseph McCarthy - I think the man is cuckoo for coco-puffs. (That's what I said in 11th grade history after we finished the chapter on McCarthyism)

By Ka34 at en.wikibooks [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons

Chapter 10 of Mightier Than The Sword: Exposing Joe McCarthy: Television's Finest Hour is a compelling re-account of the rise and fall of Joseph McCarthy, and the role television had in depicting this incredibly conniving man. McCarthy's rise began during the Cold War, when America was trembling in their knickers at the thought of communist Soviet Union becoming the more dominant world power. And I understand why, after-all; The Soviets stood for equality among every citizen, there was no such thing as a bourgeoisie or a proletariat in a communist society, only a dictator who to the Americans were evil. McCarthy, the crafty fellow, played these fears of the American people to his greatest advantage.

By United Press (Library of Congress) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

 

"Joe McCarthy began his campaign in February 1950 by waving a sheet of paper in front of a woman's club in Wheeling, West Virginia, and bellowing, "While I cannot take the time to name all of the men in the State Department who have been members of the Communist Party and a spy ring, I have here in my hand a list of 205 that were known to the Secretary of State and, nevertheless, are still working and shaping the policy in the State Department." Neither the audience not the nation that read the claim in the next day's newspapers knew that the letter contained not a single name."(Streitmatter 155).
 

By Anticommunist_Literature_1950s.[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

McCarthy was good at manipulating his listeners. He even manipulated the trust of the Fourth Estate. McCarthy accused government officials of being communist, and he went on a witch hunt against communism. Streitmatter says McCarthy used this tactic so that he could "propel the Republican Party into the White House."(153) His communist hunt definitely did work to place the Republicans in the White House. "He was cited as a major factor in helping the Republican Party take control of the White House in one of the most significant elections in American political history."(Streitmatter 157) McCarthy was on a roll; he was feared by many other Republicans, even by some of  his superiors, including, then "presidential candidate Dwight Eisenhower."(156) McCarthy was a bully, but a very smart one.

 

Joe McCarthy had a way of manipulating the press. McCarthy knew what it took to make news, and he had the whole thing figured out. "McCarthy was a master at manipulating the wire services - the Associated Press, United Press, and International News Service."(157) The wire services had great credibility, and because of that whatever they reported impacted other news outlets, including radio. The timing of McCarthy's accusations was one of his most successful when it came to manipulating the media. He always knew exactly when he was going to make an accusation - it was calculated so the wire services couldn't interview the accused person. His manipulative schemes allowed newspapers to publish a bunch of lies. This soon came to an end though with Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly. "In 1953, Murrow and Friendly decided the time had comes for a program to show that the paranoia ..had gone too far."(159) Murrow and Friendly aired the story of Milo Radulovich, a victim of McCarthy's accusations, to highlight just how far McCarthy had gone. Milo was a supposed communists because his father and sister subscribed to a Serbian-language paper. Their segment received positive reviews and with that, Murrow and Friendly went after the Man himself, Joe McCarthy. On TV, McCarthy was revealed as a liar, a contradict, a bully, someone who preyed on the innocent all for his own pleasure. Murrow had changed the view of many Americans on the issue of communism; they could breathe again with McCarthy exposed. This was the beginning of McCarthy's downward spiral from prominence in American society.

 

By U.S. Army Pictorial Center (The Challenge of Ideas, Part I (1961)) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Photograph courtesy of The Museum of Broadcast Communications

During the McCarthy hearings which were televised live, McCarthy's manipulation proved no match for the truth. Joseph Welch defeated McCarthy when it came to courtroom drama, because Welch possessed far more charm, and was more sensible with the Law. McCarthy was censored and lived the rest of his life an alcoholic.
 

You know when you know all the little details about an event, that it makes you feel really smart reading about it in another breadth, that's what Mightier than the Sword does for me. Its refreshed my mind on a lot of things I've learned in History class. Its really quite ironic that I'm learning more now on my own, than when I was being taught this stuff!