JOSEPH McCARTHY

Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was born the 14th November of 1908 and died the 2nd May of 1957. He was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death, he being diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver due to heavy drinking.

He made a speech on February 9th 1950 in which he claimed he could name 205 members of the communist party who worked in the state department. Beginning in 1950, he was appointed to find the communists that were inside the country. McCarthy enjoyed using the idea of blacklist. To be “blacklisted” during this time period meant that you were positively a communist and had to be tried as such. Ultimately, his tactics and inability to substantiate his claims led him to be censured by the United States Senate. These people on the list were in fact not all communists; some had proven merely to be alcoholics or sexual deviants. Joseph McCarthy then accused several innocent citizens, most notably Owen Lattimore, of being associated with communism. He continued to investigate for over two years, relentlessly questioning numerous government departments and the panic arising from the witch-hunts and fear of communism became known as McCarthyism.

The fear of communism, known as the Second Red Scare, led to a national witch hunt for suspected communist supporters, which was known as McCarthyism. The term "McCarthyism", coined in 1950 in reference to McCarthy's practices, was soon applied to similar anti-commu

nist activities. Today, the term is used for the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence, he is used more generally in reference to demagogic, reckless, and unsubstantiated accusations, as well as public attacks on the character or patriotism of political opponents.

House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) is best known for the investigation of Alger Hiss and for its investigation of the Hollywood film industry, which led to the blacklisting of hundreds of actors, writers, and directors. HUAC had no formal connection with McCarthy, who served in the Senate, although the existence of the House Un-American Activities Committee thrived in part as a result of McCarthy's activities. HUAC was active for 29 years.

(McCarthy and the Hollywood Ten, Hollywood celebreties who were accuses of being communists)

McCarthy’s downfall finally began in October of 1953, when he started to investigate “communist infiltration into the military.” This was the final straw for then president Dwight D. Eisenhower, who realized that McCarthy’s movement needed to be stopped. The political divisions McCarthyism created in the United States continue to make themselves manifest, and the politics and history of anti-Communism in the United States are still contentious. Portions of the massive security apparatus established during the McCarthy era still exist.