· American Studies UWA ·

   AS30020: America in the era of the Cold War

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How Did The Republican Party Use Communism?
 
  • * Joseph McCarthy was a Republican Senator from Wisconsin who wanted to revive his ailing career so adopted a particularly tough stance on Communism
  • * The Republicans hadn't been in power since before Roosevelt and so saw the current political climate as the perfect weapon to reclaim the presidency from Truman
  • * Needed to create an environment of hysteria - people have a tendency to vote for the saviour in any given situation (In this case the Republicans)
  • It was the Republicans who appeared to take the toughest stance on Communism and promised to do everything they could to rid America of the Soviet threat (or at least direct further attention towards this threat)
  • * McCarthy's ruthless ambition indicated that he would be the perfect person to take on this role
  • They could use him as a puppet to ensure that the party's own reputation remained intact should things go wrong and the need arose to disassociate themselves from him          
  • * Roosevelt (Democrat) in his First and Second New Deal pushed through many so-called Socialist legislations to help overcome the Depression
  • * As Socialism borders on Communism, the Republicans attacked this legislation, calling for a need to "roll back the New Deal" and so increase their own popularity
  • * The McCarthyite hysteria was a perfect way of ensuring that the rest f the population also shunned these so-called Socialists or 'traitors'
  • * A fear of being connected with the Democrats and, therefore, Socialism and essentially, Communism would hopefully drive people towards voting for the most clearly anti-Communist party - the Republicans
  • * McCarthyism was also used to draw attention to Truman and the Democrats' apparently soft stance on Communism both at home and abroad (they had been forced into Korea to try and disprove this and had also come up with the Truman Doctrine to show that they would aid other countries incapable of defending themselves against this threat)
  • * This tactic patently worked as after 1948 the Republicans held the majority of the seats in both houses of Congress for the first time since 1928
  • * On an international level, McCarthyism was employed to suggest to other countries that America would not stand by idly whilst other countries were under threat from Communist forces
  • * It also provided justification to the American population for their actions when America did take military action abroad such as in Korea and Vietnam 

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 · American Studies UWA ·