Joseph McCarthy

Army-McCarthy Hearings Cont.

McCarthy's Final Years

• Following the Army-McCarthy hearings, McCarthy lost influence
• His committee members were disbanded
• Newspapers and news shows stopped publishing stories about McCarthy
• McCarthy began to drink heavily
• He essentially drank himself to death
• He died May 2, 1957

• The hearings were between McCarthy and the Army
• McCarthy represented himself, and Joseph Welch represented the army
• The hearings were televised nationwide
• They lasted from April 1954 to June 1954
• McCarthy's downfall occurred when he attacked a young lawyer on Welch's team, Fred Fisher
• McCarthy accused Fisher of communism
• Welch's response exposed McCarthy's cruelty to the world
• McCarthy lost the hearings and was shunned by his party for his final years

Army-McCarthy Hearings

• McCarthy began investigating a case involving the Army's secret labs in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey
• Was a complicated issue that converged on Irving Peress
• McCarthy began interrogating Peress' commanding officer, General Zwicker
• McCarthy made many sweeping accusations
• These exploits anger the National Government
• The Secretary of the Army, Robert Stevens, ordered General Zwicker to not show up at the hearing
• McCarthy continued to threaten and accuse the Army
• McCarthy's committee held hearings about the matter with Karl Mundt as chairman in place of McCarthy

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=1065699n

Edward R. Murrow

McCarthy's Legacy

Joseph McCarthy Background

• Edward R. Murrow was a news reporter who worked for CBS
• He was angered by McCarthy's actions throughout the era
• He conducted a series of broadcasts about the Senator and what he was doing
• One of his shows angered McCarthy
• McCarthy accepted Murrow's offere to respond to Murrow's program
• McCarthy sent in a video response in which he attempted to denounce Murrow
• He called Murrow a communist
• This film, meant by McCarthy to correct the nation's opinion of him, became a large component in his downfall
• His accusations against Murrow showed his recklessness

• McCarthy's rise and fall represent the attitude of the 1950's
• He gained power because the country was gripped with the fear of communism
• He lost power because the country began to have more faith in itself than one man
• McCarthy's reign has inspired many books and movies
• The most famous is Arthur Miller's The Crucible
• McCarthy's hearings and accusations created a fear of the government

Senate Government Operation Committee's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations

• Born November 19, 1908 Wisconsin
• Graduated from Marquette University
• Began as a democrat
• Switched parties after he did not receive the nomination for District Attorney
• Ran as a Republican for circuit court judge
• Ran against Edgar Werner
• Ran a dirty campaign
• Joined marines in WWII
• Ran for senator as a republican after WWII
• Ran based off of lies and propaganda

• McCarthy established a committee
• Roy Cohn, Francis Flanigan, David Schine, Robert Kennedy
• The committee was disorganized and a mess
• McCarthy hired J. B. Matthews to bring order to the committee
• Matthews was a former communist and a Methodist Minister
• Soon after his appointment, his article "Reds and Our Churches" was published
• Claimed that the largest portion of the communist party was made up of Protestant Clergy
• This sparked much protest from religious leaders nation-wide

Joseph McCarthy

Setting the Stage

McCarthy is Uncontrollable

McCarthy's Dirty Politics

• House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
• Started in 1937 by Martin Dies
• Meant to investigate and put an end to un-American activities
• Alien Registration Act
• Passed June 29, 1940
• Pronounced it illegal to teach or advocate the overthrow of the American government
• Required all alien residents to file a claim pertaining to their religious and political preferences

• In the wake of McCarthy's accusations and his reelection, the senate attempted to control him
• William Jenner became chairman of the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee
• McCarthy was chairman of the Senate Government Operation Committee
• Senate thought this would hinder his efforts
• McCarthy made himself chairman of the Senate Government Operation Committee's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
• Had been created under Truman
• Gave McCarthy power to investigate whomever he pleased

• Circuit Court Judge Campaign
• Opponent: Edgar Werner
• Published documents stating that Werner was 73, not 66
• Suggested Werner was senile and guilty of financial fraud
• Senator Campaign of 1946
• Opponent: Robert La Follette
• Campaign posters of McCarthy in full military uniform
• Criticized La Follette for not joining army
• Was in fact too old to join at the time

Accusations Against General Marshall

McCarthy's Rise to Power

The Beginning of the Witch Hunt

• Partnered with journalist Jack Anderson
• McCarthy gave Anderson inside information in exchange for the names of politicians suspected of communism
• Received information from J. Edgar Hoover (head of the FBI)
• February 9th, 1950
• Spoke at the Republican Women's Club in Wheeling, West Virginia
• Claimed he had a list of 205 communists in the government
• later modified this number to 57
• the list was not a secret and was not of just communists
• was the result of a screening in 1947
• Made many accusations which were false

• Won senatorial race
• Did not do well
• Was accused of taking bribes and lying about military record
• Feared he would lose the next senatorial election
• Received advice to begin a search for communists within the Democratic party

• General George C. Marshall
• Served as Army Chief of Staff during the war
• Later served as Secretary of State
• Created the Marshall Plan
• Plan that helped rebuild Europe after the war
• Well known and respected
• June 14, 1951
• McCarthy made a speech accusing General Marshall as a member of the Communist Party
• The accusations angered many
• Senator William Benton tried to have McCarthy expelled from the senate
• McCarthy accused Benton of being a Communist