The most famous anti-Communist activist during the Red Scare was Senator Joseph McCarthy, a Republican from Wisconsin. My January 1950, he had a reputation as an ineffective legislator and had to pick a winning issue that would get him reelected in 1952. He chose to claim that communists were infiltrating the government.
McCarthy made many unsupported accusations, such as claiming that there were hundreds of Communists in the State Department without producing a single name. He also accused the Democratic Party of “20 years of treason”. The Republican Party did little to stop McCarthy because they believed they would win the 1952 presidential election of the public saw them purging the nation of Communists.
However, when McCarthy made accusations against the US Army, it resulted in a nationally televised Senate investigation. His bullying of witnesses alienated the audience and cost him public support. The Senate condemned him for improper conduct that “tended to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute”. Three years later, an alcoholic McCarthy died a disgraced and broken man.
To this day, the unfair tactic of accusing people of disloyalty without providing evidence is known as McCarthyism.
By: Derek Nielsen and Aston Sun
I like how you explained the whole McCarthyism era from his rise to his fall and explained the cause of each. You portrayed McCarthy's personality well. Nice Post!
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