The causes and effects of McCarthyism
There were many effects by McCarthyism but not so many causes (or valid reasons for the
consequences/lives ruined due to McCarthyism). McCarthyism affected the whole nation by
accusing many people and ruining their reputations just because of Joseph McCarthy’s paranoia
towards communism (which spread to the American people with the help of propaganda). The
basic definition of McCarthyism was the enactment of minimizing the warning of communism
by charging and detaining defendants. Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy took advantage of
this widespread paranoia to advance himself politically by accusing State Department
employees of communist leanings. McCarthy's accusations were unsubstantiated, and the
Senate eventually censured him. However, the damage was already done, which will he
discussed in this mini essay (as well as the causes of McCarthyism).
Yet who was the person behind McCarthyism? Joseph McCarthy was the person who started
McCarthyism and who accused many innocent people of being communist sympathizers for
close to three years. Joseph McCarthy was born on November 14th, 1908, in Wisconsin. He
began his career as a judge. However, before he decided to become a Republican senator, he
joined the military as a marine. After, he decided to leave the military he then decided to run
for the Wisconsin Senate seat. He was elected on the Republican ticket for the U.S. Senate in
the year 1946 and was reelected in 1952. He gained popularity at the Ohio County Women’s
Republican Club in Wheeling, West Virginia. McCarthy gave a speech that propelled him into
the national spotlight. Waving a piece of paper in the air, he declared that he had a list of 205
known members of the Communist Party who were “working and shaping policy” in the State
Department.
McCarthyism began in the late 1940s and 1950s. Yet it all began with “The Red Scare.” “Many
factors contributed to McCarthyism, some of them with roots in the First Red Scare (1917–20),
inspired by communism's emergence as a recognized political force and widespread social
disruption in the United States related to unionizing and anarchist activities. In 1947,
Americans’ fears were heightened by President Truman, who signed an executive order
institutionalizing the screening of all persons in government service for communist infiltration.
McCarthy’s fear of communism is was what led to a witch hunt, which brought him to panic.
He was so determined with the witch hunt he started questioning and hunting communist
sympathizers in the United States but first he looked into governmental departments for over
two years. The fear turned to violence with the 1919 anarchist bombings, a series of bombs
targeting law enforcement and government officials. Bombs went off in a wide number of cities
including Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, D.C., and New York City. This left a bad memory in
American’s minds which is why McCarthyism became so popular.
Another cause of McCarthyism was the increase of Cold war tensions. The context of post-
WWII America played a significant role in the rise of McCarthyism. Immediately after World
War II, the United States and the Soviet Union entered into a military arms race and a series of
economic and political conflicts that became known as the Cold War. The rise of McCarthyism
, can be largely attributed to this rivalry, as much of the United States was concerned about
communism, threats to national security, war, and Soviet espionage. In the early 1950s, due to
increasing fears of Soviet aggression, schools began conducting drills that prepared American
children in the event of a nuclear attack. The drills were known as ‘duck and cover drills’
because the children were instructed to dive under their desks and cover their heads. Once
such measures were incorporated into American schooling, the fear of a Soviet takeover no
longer seemed so unreasonable, at least not to the American public. This was another factor
contributing to the atmosphere of paranoia and fear that helped McCarthy rise to prominence.
Now let's talk about the effects of McCarthyism. There were direct victims such as the
Hollywood ten, people using their professions/university degrees and many others falsely
accused and sent to prison. The film industry investigations reached their peak with the events
surrounding the Hollywood Ten, a group of writers and directors who were called to testify in
October 1947. All were cited for contempt of Congress and sentenced to prison terms, in
addition to being blacklisted from working in Hollywood. An example of the effects of
McCarthyism on a Hollywood ten member is Charlie Chaplin. Though never a member of the
Communist Party, silent screen icon Chaplin drew the ire of the government for his subversive
films and support of leftist political causes. The FBI, meanwhile, compiled a file on Chaplin that
was over 2,000 pages long. The tensions finally came to a head in 1952, when Chaplin—a British
national—was denied his reentry visa to the United States after a trip abroad. Told he’d need to
testify to his “moral worth” before he could regain the permit, the director-actor instead cut
ties with America and spent the rest of his career working in Europe. Save for a 1972 trip to
collect an honorary Oscar, Chaplin never set foot in the United States again.
McCarthyism also had an effect on domestic policies. An example is the Attacks on Truman and his
administration and the democratic party. The Democratic victory of 1948 was terribly frustrating to
the Republicans. They had been denied the presidency since 1933 and they had thought for sure
that it would be theirs in 1948 -- four more years of Democratic rule was a bitter realization. By
placing the blame for the post-war success of Communism on internal American subversion the
Republicans had a sure-fire campaign issue against the Democrats. It was a simple solution to a
complex problem, and it appealed to the American people -- Communism succeeds, not because
American was innately wrong or weak, but because traitors had undermined the system from
within. McCarthy, with the tact support of congressional Republicans, made himself the personal
symbol in the American fight against Communism -- in other words, for a time, to attack Joe
McCarthy was to attack the "American way of life." This increased the supporters for republics and
undermined the democratic government. To sum up Republicans used McCarthys attacks to end
democratic domination in Presidency.
McCarthyism surprisingly had an impact on foreign policy as well. By the early 1950s, the public
mood towards diplomats had soured. Some Foreign Service officers (Foreign Service officers
formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States). felt they were being punished
whenever they reported events that politicians did not want to hear. Things worsened in 1952,
when McCarthy became head of the Committee of Government Operations, allowing him to create
constant bogus investigations. McCarthy even targeted high-level statesmen who had long been
respected in the world of foreign policy, like George Marshall (the architect of the Marshall Plan),
and Dean Acheson, the secretary of State, who he accused of having failed to prevent China from
