McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare

International & Domestic Context Fueling Fear of Communism

Post-WWII global events that made communism seem like an immediate, tangible threat
- 1949 – China’s communist victory ("loss of China").
- 1949 – Soviet Union detonates its first atomic bomb.
- 1950 – Korean War begins, producing a bloody stalemate that drags into the Eisenhower years.
Joseph Stalin personified the ideological enemy; Americans could point to a concrete leader and state (the USSR).
Republicans sought an electoral wedge issue; Democrats tried to out-anti-communist them to avoid being labeled “soft.”

Definition: Scapegoating = unfairly blaming an individual/group for broad misfortunes; diverts responsibility from real causes.
- Roots: ancient Israel’s ritual of sending a goat into the wilderness carrying communal sins.
- U.S. examples: immigrant blaming during economic recessions; equating union activity with communism.

Founded 1938; originally attacked the New Deal as a secret communist plot.
After 1947, televised hearings aimed at proving Democratic administrations nurtured subversion.
First high-profile target: Hollywood
- Sparked by suspicion of Jewish & foreign artists plus fear that movies carried propaganda.
- Friendly witnesses: Gary Cooper, Walt Disney, Ronald Reagan—supplied names.
- The Hollywood Ten: refused questions → jailed for contempt.
- Studio blacklist: unofficial employment ban; no due process; impossible to clear one’s name.
- Example: actor Paul Robeson’s income plunged from \$150{,}000 \to \$3{,}000 annually after blacklisting.
Protest: Committee for the First Amendment – celebrities (Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Danny Kaye) publicly opposed HUAC.

Whittaker Chambers (ex-communist, Time editor) accused Hiss (ex State Dept. official, FDR adviser) of espionage.
Pumpkin Papers – microfilm hidden in a pumpkin.
Statute of limitations barred espionage charge; Hiss tried for perjury—convicted, jailed.
Political fallout
- Discredited liberal foreign-policy elite.
- Elevated Richard Nixon (HUAC member) to national prominence → Senate win in 1950.

Goal: pre-empt GOP criticism & bolster Cold-War policy support.
Scope & numbers
- 6{,}000{,}000 employees screened.
- 3{,}000{,}000+ investigated.
- By 1951: 2{,}000 resignations, 212 firings.
Process defects
- AG “subversive organizations” list.
- J. Edgar Hoover used FBI for harassment; loyalty judged by reading habits, travel, unions.
- Supervisors certified subordinates → “guilty until proven innocent.”
Ripple effects: by 1953, 32 states required teacher loyalty oaths; UC-Berkeley dismissals.
Truman’s later view: HUAC was “the most un-American thing in America.”

Smith Act (1940): illegal to advocate or affiliate with violent overthrow of any U.S. government.
1948: Justice Dept. prosecutes 11 Communist Party leaders.
Dennis v. U.S. (1951)
- Court upholds convictions; introduces “grave and probable danger” variant of “clear & present danger.”
Later retreats
- Watkins v. U.S. (1957) – witnesses may refuse HUAC inquiries beyond congressional purpose.
- Yates v. U.S. (1957) – only direct incitement to action, not abstract advocacy, punishable.

Schenck v. U.S. (1919) – original “clear & present danger” (C&PD) standard: words can be weapons.
Dennis (1951) – modified C&PD (“grave and probable danger”).
Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) – KKK leader’s conviction reversed; speech protected unless it incites imminent lawless action. Current standard.

Actual CPUSA membership ≈ 30{,}000 by 1950 (declining), yet AG claimed Reds “everywhere … carry the germ of death.”
Institutions—courts, schools, unions—expelled suspected subversives.

1-term GOP senator from Wisconsin; needed reelection issue.
Wheeling, WV speech (Feb 9, 1950)
- Claimed to hold list of 205 State Dept. communists (number kept shifting; no list existed).
Media coinage: “McCarthyism” (Herblock cartoon; barrel of mud).
Demagogue defined: leader who gains power by exploiting prejudice & emotion (Mencken: preaches what he knows untrue to “idiots”).

Attacked “egg-sucking phony liberals,” East-Coast elites, containment strategy.
Allies: parts of GOP, J. Edgar Hoover (illegally funneled FBI data), conservative Catholics (ties to Kennedy family).
Polls: half of Americans still favorable early 1954; John Wayne called him “one of the greatest Americans.”

GOP Senate victory 1952 → McCarthy chairs Government Operations subcommittee; conducts headline-grabbing investigations across agencies.
Republican leaders often stayed silent—complicity prolonged influence.

Arthur Miller, The Crucible (1953) – allegory of Salem witch trials vs. McCarthyism; Miller blacklisted, subpoenaed, convicted of contempt (reversed 1958); U.S. denied passport for Belgian staging.
Edward R. Murrow – See It Now (Mar 9, 1954)
- Broadcast McCarthy footage; closing monologue: “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty… we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.”
Book-burning fears: Indiana library bans Robin Hood (too leftish). Ray Bradbury writes The Fireman (1951) → Fahrenheit 451 (1953).

McCarran–Walter Act (Immigration & Nationality Act 1952)
- Denies entry to aliens tied to violent overthrow; passed over Truman veto.

Klaus Fuchs – German-Brit physicist at Los Alamos; confessed 1950 to passing bomb data; believed Allies bled USSR vs. Germany.
Julius & Ethel Rosenberg
- Accused of funneling doc’s (via Ethel’s brother) to USSR; convicted 1951, executed 06/19/1953. Eisenhower refused clemency.
J. Robert Oppenheimer – AEC revokes clearance 1953; centerpiece of recent film Oppenheimer.

McCarthy targets U.S. Army; ABC televises hearings.
Public sees aggressive style: unshaven, brow-beating.
Army counsel Joseph Welch rebuttal (June 9, 1954): “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?” → audience applause; turning point.
Senate censures McCarthy 12/02/1954 (vote 67-22) for abuse of power & contempt for Congress.
Dies 05/02/1957, age 48 — alcoholism, morphine addiction.

Roy Cohn: McCarthy chief counsel; later mob & celebrity lawyer; mentor to Donald Trump.
- Strategy imparted to Trump: "Never settle, never surrender, counter-attack, proclaim victory."
Trump tweet (2018) labeled Russia investigation “illegal Joseph McCarthy style witch hunt,” illustrating term’s enduring rhetorical power.

Coined an era of hysterical, often unfounded accusations that chilled speech & civil liberties.
Showed how international fear + partisan politics + media can erode due process.
Institutional lessons: balance between investigating threats & protecting constitutional freedoms.
Phrase “McCarthyism” now shorthand for reckless public accusation without evidence.