What was one effect of mccarthyism in the 1950s

Marc G. Pufong's teaching interest and research focuses on constitutional law and judicial politics, international law and politics and human rights and conflicts.

Point of Order! New York: W. Norton and Co. Fried, Albert. New York: Oxford University Press, Fried, Richard M. Herman, Arthur. New York: Free Press, McCarthy, Joseph. Washington, D. Oshinsky, David M. New York: Simon and Schuster, The intense rivalry between the two superpowers raised concerns in the United States that Communists and leftist sympathizers inside America might actively work as Soviet spies and pose a threat to U.

Such ideas were not totally unfounded. As apprehension about Soviet influence grew as the Cold War heated up, U. On March 21, , President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order , also known as the Loyalty Order , which mandated that all federal employees be analyzed to determine whether they were sufficiently loyal to the government.

Yet it was only one of many questionable activities that occurred during the period of anticommunist hysteria known as the Red Scare. One of the pioneering efforts to investigate communist activities took place in the U. Under pressure from the negative publicity aimed at their studios, movie executives created Hollywood blacklists that barred suspected radicals from employment; similar lists were also established in other industries.

Another congressional investigator, U. McCarthy of Wisconsin , became the person most closely associated with the anticommunist crusade—and with its excesses.

McCarthy used hearsay and intimidation to establish himself as a powerful and feared figure in American politics. He leveled charges of disloyalty at celebrities, intellectuals and anyone who disagreed with his political views, costing many of his victims their reputations and jobs. Edgar Hoover , aided many of the legislative investigations of communist activities. An ardent anticommunist, Hoover had been a key player in an earlier, though less pervasive, Red Scare in the years following World War I The information obtained by the FBI proved essential in high-profile legal cases, including the conviction of 12 prominent leaders of the American Communist Party on charges that they had advocated the overthrow of the government.

The Rosenbergs were executed two years later. Public concerns about communism were heightened by international events. In , the Soviet Union successfully tested a nuclear bomb and communist forces led by Mao Zedong took control of China. Because of the fear of communism, the House Un-American Activities Committee HUAC was formed to investigate allegation against disloyalty from suspected communist supporters and communist.

In , the Hatch Act made it illegal for the government to hire Communists Scates, This act was also used to uncover communists who were using false identities and names.

The enduring fear of Communist threat was taken advantage of by Senator McCarthy as he found it as an ideal opportunity to base his re-election on a witch-hunt of those he perceived to be communists and communist sympathizers as he looked to use this tool to advance his political career.

In 9th February , McCarthy made a claim that he was in possession of a list of individuals in the State Department who were members of the American Communist Party Scates, For close to half a decade, McCarthy tried to expose left-wing and communist members in the American government.

Other individuals were also called to testify before the House of Representatives regarding Un-American actions. The witnesses were diverse as they ranged from writers, movie producers and army officials. During this period, one witness committed suicide, while the rest lost their jobs. These witnesses were blacklisted from getting jobs in the country. This was despite the fact that the evidences against them were weak. McCarthyism led to increased fears amongst American government officials.

McCarthy had started a baseless witch-hunt against government officials especially those who were in the state department Scates, Ike went one step further. In May , Ike simply said that administration officials and all executive branch employees would ignore any call from McCarthy to testify.

It was a bold and daring move, and it worked. McCarthy, his credibility in tatters and now starved of witnesses, hit a brick wall—and his fellow senators turned against him.

In early December , the Senate passed a motion of condemnation, in a vote of 67 to McCarthy was ruined—and within three years he was dead from alcohol abuse. The era of McCarthyism was over. Ike had helped bring it to a bitter end. In the late s and early s, dramatic radio programs told tales of government agents on a quest to find Communist infiltrators who, in the words of one, "would undermine our America.

David Harding, Counterspy began in as the story of an American operative fighting the Nazis, and the long-running program easily adapted to a Cold War narrative in the late s and early s. Edgar Hoover calling on law enforcement officers, patriotic organizations, and individuals to report on anything that might indicate espionage, sabotage, or subversive activities. In this episode, from April , Matt Cvetic describes his undercover assignment: "For nine years I was living on the brink of a volcano, a volcano called Communism, a volcano which is centered in Soviet Russia but which is erupting all over the world.

Comic books and pulp fiction magazines also brought the threat of Communism to life. The Catholic Catechetical Guild of Minneapolis published these two comics for distribution in and In this November 24, , address over radio and television, McCarthy turned an attack on former President Truman to questions directed at Eisenhower.