· American Studies UWA ·

   AS30020: America in the era of the Cold War

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What were the main tactics employed by McCarthy? How effective were they?


* McCarthy set about creating a red scare over America, Which in turn would cause mass hysteria and fear of communist invasion all across America which would again in turn aid the Republican party in their aim to be once again in the white house as McCarthy's claims also helped create an anti-democratic atmosphere as the ideals of FDR's New Deal were now seen to be sympathetic to communism at a time when the ideals of communism were
being seen as the enemy.

* McCarthy made wild allegations about peoples involvement with the communist party, as he famously claimed he had  a list of 205 members of the communist party who worked for the state department, even though he had no actual solid evidence to back this up, he made sure he waves his list in front of television cameras to add to the atmosphere of fear
already evident in America at the time.

* Congress set up the House of Un-American Activities committee to investigate the involvement of the communist party in many professions including teachers, actors, directors etc, unions and the government.

* The investigation into the involvement of the communist party within Hollywood was famous as one of the biggest actors in America film history found himself denied a return visa as he was accused of being a communist spy, even though he was not found guilty of anything his career had subsequently been ended by the allegations, which was the fate of
hundreds of others in Hollywood, famously known as the Hollywood blacklist.

* The fear of imprisonment, loss of job or even death in the case of the Rosenbergs, many had turned to being informers for the HUAC as they were treated less harshly if they co-operated with the committee and it was said to be a sign of their loyalty to their country.

* The HUAC had changed it's view from 'reasonable grounds' for investigation' to 'reasonable doubt' for investigation which further intensified the fear of being named a 'Commie'.

* The McCarran Internal Security act forced organisations to give lists of members as they might be communists.

* McCarthy's witch hunts were indeed successful in creating a sense of terror amongst the American public, knowing that being named a communist, even an allegation could ruin your life so most were more then willing to inform on friends or colleagues in order to save themselves.

 

A major tactic employed by McCarthy was to expose government members who were Communist Agents who worked within the state department. This would show up government officials to be traitors of the system and disloyal to the state department.

McCarthy chose to expose who he thought were traitors in front of an audience, West Virginia’s, Woman’s Republican Club of Wheeling. Amongst the accused was Alger Hiss. This was not the first time he had been accused of been a traitor to the government, Richard Nixon had already done so in a previous speech.

This tactic was very effective. It created media attention for a politician who, previous to these accusations was very much unheard off. His bold accusations and his way of approaching the subject also brought him attention. However, his accusations were unsupported, he had no evidence to support his accusations against those he had named and given the numbers of.

However, his outrageousness only seemed to go his way for a limited period. He was able to manipulate the press and the public response to his accusations is arguable. It is not for definite that by this point in his political career that the public response showed support for McCarthy.  His outrageousness peaked when he accused General George Marshal of also been a traitor.

McCarthy’s tactics however remained successful even after this point for a short period. He remained a confident politician, gaining support from many as he appeared to be maintaining his political beliefs regardless. Between him remaining confident and becoming a somewhat scary political figure.

He soon took over the Permanent Investigations Subcommittee of the Government Operations Committee in order to investigate corruption and search for Communists in high places within the Government and its internal structures.

This did not remain enough, however, to keep McCarthy afloat after his final accusation against the army for protecting Communists within its department. As a result of such an allegation Administration and a Subcommittee launched an investigation and McCarthy was finally censured for a lack of respect. His rebellion to this failed, he had lost his support, his audience

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