Josh Hoffer 1/9/2012 McCarthy Paper Project Week

The McCarthy Hearings

The Army-McCarthy hearings are known for being the downfall of Joseph McCarthys political career and to a certain extent his life (McCarthy's Downfall). Throughout his two terms as a Republican senator for Wisconsin, He fought communism so much that he was called paranoid. The people who opposed him called him a fascist because they saw him as seeking to control everything. His support came primarily from conservatives who hated communism just as much as he did (Encyclopedia.com). Joseph McCarthy was successful in almost everything he did and if not he would do something else. He was born on November 14, 1908 in the farm town of Grand Chute, Wisconsin (Encyclopedia.com). After 8th grade he dropped out of school like most of the other boys and became successful a chicken farmer until he became sick when he was eight-teen, and the people he left in charge didnt do a good job so most of the chickens died. He then started working at a local store named Cash-Way and quickly became store manager, but decided he wanted more and to go beyond Wisconsin (James Giblin 4). He decided to go back to high school when he was twenty years old and he worked so hard he graduated in one year. He then went to Marquette University to be an engineer but he became successful in a debate and argumentation class so he switched to law his junior year. He joined the

Josh Hoffer 1/9/2012 McCarthy Paper Project Week schools Debating Society to improve his speaking skills. He was known as a risky gambler even though he wasn't particular good at it, if he won he would frequently buy drinks for everyone, one time he won a lot and he bought a car which made him popular. He also used his winnings to help pay for

school and to live on. After he graduated He became an attorney in Waupaca, Wisconsin, but there was a lot of competition and lack of cases because of the Depression. He was eventually offered a job at a law firm which he took because he needed a steady salary. He then tried running as a Democrat for District Attorney, but lost. He then ran for 10th circuit judge against Edgar Werner, who had a lot more experience but he beat him anyway by attacking him with false accusations, he figured out that the public remembered the accusation more than the defense; he often used this strategy throughout his political career (James Giblin 4-22). He Joined the Marines in 1942 while he was still a judge and quickly went from First Lieutenant to Captain. He served as a Marine ground officer during WW2 and won several medals for courageous devotion

(Encyclopedia.com). In 1944 while he was still a Marine his friends put him on the ballot for senator, he lost but did get a significant number of votes. In 1945 he was reelected circuit judge despite the fact that hew was not viewed as a good judge. He was reelected due to the lack of opposition and he was well liked in the area (James Giblin 38). Next year he ran for Wisconsin

Josh Hoffer 1/9/2012 McCarthy Paper Project Week Senator again as a Republican against Robert M. La Follete, and won (Encyclopedia.com). When Joseph McCarthy became senator he did not attack communism. He was seen as a mostly an average senator. To some he was seen as dishonorable because he was given a loan from Pepsi-Cola which was seen as a bribe to make him fight against the sugar rationing prices that were in place (The "Second" Red Scare). The IRS then caught up with his questionable tax returns and he needed something to base his campaign on and draw attention away from this. He asked the people he was having dinner with, and they suggested communism. Communism was a popular and feared issue in America at this time because World War 2 had ended and the Cold War was beginning, which made it the perfect platform for him to campaign. His opposition towards communism quickly escalated and he soon saw it as not just a political wrong, but to him a moral wrong, he would frequently refer to Communism as atheistic and to democracy as Christian (Wheeling Speech). He made a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1950 claiming there were 205 known members of the American Communists Party in the State Department (Encyclopedia.com). Though he later denied saying this, which has led to confusion about what he exactly said during in the speech (Stanton Evans 5). During this speech he also said "When a great democracy is destroyed, it will not be because of enemies from without but rather because of enemies from within. He claimed he was quoting a

Josh Hoffer 1/9/2012 McCarthy Paper Project Week historical figure but did not say who. In 1952 he was reelected senator but only got 54 percent of the votes. He was also appointed chairman of the Senate Committee on Government Operations and its Subcommittee on Investigations (apl.org). He used this subcommittee to investigate the Army Signal Corp Laboratory in Fort Monmouth. Here many civilian engineers had been cleared by the government and were employed by the Army (McCarthys Downfall). The Army was actually already investigating this laboratory because there was a report that several important documents were missing and were thought to have been stolen. Roy Cohn; McCarthys Chief Counsel, convinced McCarthy that it could be a potential spy ring, so they investigated it even though the army was already looking into it. They eventually came up with nothing, and they only angered the army in the process (Arthur Herman 238-39). The Armys retaliation ended up becoming the Army-McCarthy Hearings. The Army-McCarthy Hearings started on April 22, 1954 and were the first national televised hearings (Thomas Doherty). The Army had accused Roy Cohn of pressuring military officials into giving David Schine; a member of McCarthys staff, special treatment, such as not drafting him overseas. McCarthys counter accusation was that the army was using Schine as a deterrent, to keep him from continuing to investigate possible communists in the military. As the hearings went on, his popularity declined with the public and media as they watched him bully witnesses and frequently call point of

Josh Hoffer 1/9/2012 McCarthy Paper Project Week order to interrupt and criticize people throughout the hearings. McCarthy then started attacking the armys head counsel, Joseph Welch, by saying that one of their lawyers, Frederick G. Fisher, who was briefly involved with the hearing, used to work at National Lawyers Guild. McCarthy accused the National Lawyers Guild of ''coddling Fifth Amendmnent Communists'' and that the National Lawyers Guild handled the legal bulwark of the communist party. He claimed that Frederrick worked there after it had been exposed as the legal arm of the Communist Party''. When McCarthy said this Welch was shocked and said until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. Fred Fisher is starting what looks to be a brilliant career with us. I fear he shall always bear a scar, needlessly inflicted by you. Have you left no sense of decency? (NYTimes). After this McCarthy was viewed poorly by most. The Senate ultimately censored him for abusing his power as a senator. He was allowed to stay in the senate but lost all of his political power and was ignored by everyone. After this he started drinking heavily which worsened his already complicated health and eventually died of acute hepatitis. The Army-McCarthy Hearings have influenced how we view

communism today. McCarthys Investigations and accusations of communists in government have since been referred to as Witch-Hunts because they lack proof and turning up nothing (James Giblin 271). McCarthys somewhat unethical political techniques and quickness to investigate possible

Josh Hoffer 1/9/2012 McCarthy Paper Project Week communists in government has created the negative term McCarthyism which according to Dictionary.com means The practice of making

accusations of disloyalty, especially of pro-Communist activity, in many instances unsupported by proof or based on slight, doubtful, or irrelevant evidence. The Time wrote about him in their 80 days that changed the world saying Overnight, his speech sparked a media firestorm that played to the basest fears of Americans swept up in a frightening cold war and triggered loyalty oaths, blacklists and personal betrayals that cost an estimated 10,000 Americans their jobs and some shattered innocents their lives. Shortly after his death in 1957, books were written that showed him as a brutal villain (Stanton Evans 27). Which caused his reputation to fall even after his death (encyclopedia.com). Though William Buckley sided with McCarthy and co-wrote McCarthy and Its Enemies: The Record and Its

Meaning a book defending Joseph McCarthy and the idea of McCarthyism.

Bibliography
"Arthur Miller - McCarthyism | American Masters | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. 23 Aug. 2006. Web. 06 Jan. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/arthurmiller/mccarthyism/484/. Doherty, Thomas. "The Army-McCarthy Hearings." The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Web. 05 Jan. 2012. <http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=army-mccarthy>.

Josh Hoffer 1/9/2012 McCarthy Paper Project Week Evans, M. Stanton. Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight against America's Enemies. New York: Three Rivers, 2007. Print. Giblin, James Cross. The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy. Boston [Mass.: Clarion, 2009. Print. Herman, Arthur. Joseph McCarthy: Reexamining the Life and Legacy of America's Most Hated Senator. New York: Free, 2000. Print. "Joseph McCarthy: Biography." Appleton Public Library. 21 Apr. 2003. Web. 05 Jan. 2012. <http://www.apl.org/history/mccarthy/biography.html>. "McCarthy Army Hearings Begin History.com This Day in History 4/22/1954." History.com History Made Every Day American & World History. Web. 06 Jan. 2012. <http://www.history.com/this-day-inhistory/mccarthy-army-hearings-begin?catId=3>. "McCarthy, Joseph." UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography. Encyclopedia.com. 6 Jan. 2012<http://www.encyclopedia.com>. 2003.

"Joseph Raymond McCarthy." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 6 Jan. 2012<http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "McCarthyism | Define McCarthyism at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com. Web. 05 Jan. 2012. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/McCarthyism>. "McCarthy's Downfall." Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts. Web. 06 Jan. 2012. <http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~lillsie/McCarthyism/downfall.html>. Monday, Johanna McGeary. "McCarthy's First Slander 80 Days That Changed the World." TIME.com. Time.com, 31 Mar. 2003. Web. 05 Jan. 2012. <http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1977881_197 7887_1978204,00.html>. Narvaez, Alfonso A. "Frederick G. Fisher, 68; Was a McCarthy Target - New York Times." NY Times Obituaries. New York Times. Web. 05 Jan. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/27/obituaries/frederick-g-fisher-68-was-amccarthy-target.html>.