Essay Sample on McCarthyism

Introduction

It is important to note that McCarthyism was referred to as the practice of making an unnecessary accusation of subversion without regard for any existing evidence. The term has its origins during the period in the United States which was referred to as red scare which is believed to have existed between 1940 and 1950. Moreover, the term is attributed to former US Senator Joseph McCarthy who was a firm proponent of McCarthyism ideas during this period hence the term. It should be noted that the period was characterized by intense political repression across the US coupled by campaigns which spread the fear of communist manifestos on the various institutions across the United States as well as of espionage by the agents of Soviet Union (Gibson, 2008). It is therefore essential to note that the primary aim of the essay is to study the various ideas of McCarthyism and how it spread and influenced the people of the United States and its institutions.

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Notably, in as much as Senator McCarthy was later attributed as the proponent of McCarthyism, it should be understood clearly that what became to be referred as McCarthy period had begun earlier before his term in 1953. This was observed in the fact that by 1947, the then president of the United States, Truman, had ascended to an executive order that required that all federal employees to be screened for any link with an organization that was viewed as fascist, subversive, communist or even totalitarian (Storch, 2017). This was done to prevent any possible unconstitutional threat by such groups to the government of the United States. In line with the president's order, in 1949, one of the high ranking state department employees was convicted of perjury in one of the espionage cases and the Soviet Union tested an atomic bomb. About this, during the subsequent year, the Korean War started which highly raised tensions in the United States. The major turnaround on McCarthyism was in 1950 when Senator McCarthy presented a list of members during a speech which was alleged to be part of these communist members who were engaged in the various state department. This attracted much attention from the press. However the popularity of this term in the 1940s and 1950s, the term has been used broadly, most particularly to describe the ills of similar efforts. Notably, at the beginning of the 21st century, the McCarthyism was used to describe unsupported accusations, recklessness, alongside manipulative attacks on the patriotism of political opponents.

As stated earlier, McCarthyism activities began majorly in 1950 when Senator McCarthy, a Republican Senator announced during a speech in West Virginia, that he had almost more than two hundred names of employee communists who were within the state departments (Storch, 2017). These false declarations famously thrust him into the national spotlight. However, these were later regarded as publicity stunts as they were unconfirmed accusations. When asked to name some of the purported names from his list, the senator named only one official who he alleged to have determined his guilt through association. McCarthy described him as the top spy from Russia who had formerly advised the state department on cultural issues. As a result of the above-unsubstantiated declaration which was of national interest, the United States Senate voted to condemn McCarthy for conduct that they deemed was unbecoming of a Senator. This criticism which was like an objection, related Senator McCarthy's inquiry of suspected communists in the United States government, civil society, and the military. Due to the above behavior and shocking accusations labeled by the Senator, the Senate was prompted to come up with a special committee to thoroughly investigate the issue.

It is important to note that cold war had its origins from World War II, which was prompted by a continuous and repeated delay in opening up a second front in Europe which made Russians suspicious of the motives of the western allies. It cannot be denied that these concerns were amplified when the United States cut their aid of lend-lease to the Soviet Union immediately after the war culminated. At the moment, the then president of the Soviet Union, Stalin's commitment for an election in Eastern Europe was quickly done away with (Mann, 2009). In a bid to ensure that there are allied states on its western part, the Union supported and established communist-dominated governments in Bulgaria, Poland, and even Romania during the summer and spring of the year 1945. As a result of this, within one year, the then president of the United States, Winston Churchill, informed American audience that an iron curtain had come across Europe, dividing the captive communist nations of the East from the free and democratic countries of the west.

It is worth noting that cold war was equally propagated by one of the significant policies of George Kennan who was a US state department official stationed in Moscow, Russia, and President Truman's Doctrine (Doherty, 2005). Kennan developed a unique strategy aimed at dealing with the Soviet Union during the postwar period. In one of his secret telegram conversations relayed to Washington in 1946, he revealed what later became known as containment policy. This was majorly derived from the fact that the policy was aimed at coming up with strategies which would be used to help contain the activities. In his policy, Kennan argued that in as much as the Soviet Union had a determination to spread its influence across the entire world, its leaders tended to be cautious and did not want to take a risk. In realizing a determined opposition possibly from the United States and other western nations, Kennan claimed that the Soviet Union would eventually back down (Walker, 2011). It should be noted that Kennan's policy was solely concerned with the future expansion of the Soviet Union and agreed, in effect, the Soviet Union's control experienced in Eastern Europe.

It is worth mentioning that the initial test of containment policy came in Turkey and Greece. This was evidenced when, in 1946, a civil war broke in Greece pitting communist wing against the government that was supported by the British. Concurrently, Russia piled pressure on Turkey to allow it to build naval bases situated at its northwestern coast, hence giving Soviet Union Black sea Fleet uncompromised access to the Mediterranean Sea. However, when Britain declared that it no longer had the financial clout to offer support to the two factions meet the threats to their independence, the US stepped in (Storch, 2017). As a result, President Truman requested Congress for both economic and military assistance for Turkey and Greece in 1947, by indicating the US commitment to support free peoples repelling control by an armed minority or outside pressures. It was observed that the policy, mostly referred to as Truman Doctrine seemed to work. This was confirmed with the fact that the communists were defeated in the Greek Civil War of 1949. The foreign aid offered in terms of military and economic assistance provided by the United States helped to support and strengthen the Turkish economy.

Just like McCarthyism's main idea was to check the related activities of individuals who were perceived to be communists, The House Un-American Activities Committee was also formed to investigate the alleged disloyalty as well as subversive activities of the employees, private citizens, as well as conduct of organizations and entities that were suspected to have ties with communists (Gibson, 2008). The committee was initially referred to as Fish Committee and the McCormack-Dickstein Committee. With this new organization, HUAC employed very vocal attacks on the then president of US Roosevelt's administration before the outbreak of the war which did not fit the political mood of a country that was majorly in favor of president Roosevelt leadership. It would be important to note that all these changed in the postwar atmosphere that was characterized by fear and condemnation for the Soviet Union, where the activities of HUAC commanded considerable popular support alongside consistently attracting significant headlines. Because of its power to summon witnesses as well as hold individuals in contempt of Congress, this committee often pressured witnesses to give in their names and other relevant information that could consequently lead to the apprehension of perceived communists and their sympathizers (Storch, 2017).

It is, however, important to state that it was the questioning styles as well as examination techniques used by HUAC that served as a reference model upon which Senator McCarthy would use to conduct his investigations after a few years later. However, after the censure of Senator McCarthy and his consequent departure from the Senate, the public became warier of the techniques that were employed by HUAC and other bodies. Amazingly, after the committee became popular in the earlier years, it is laughable to note that the activities of the committee then begun to decline at an alarming rate throughout the late 1950s through early 1960s until it was renamed as the House Internal Security Committee by 1969. The committee was officially abolished in 1975.

The two committees were formed during different periods in the history of the United States. However, it cannot be denied that they both had a common goal of offering a check on the perceived existence of communists, fascists as well as subversives who were alleged to divert the attention of the people of Americans regarding their political and economic beliefs (Mann, 2009). One of the fundamental differences that should be understood between these two committees was that HUAC was the first committee to be formed in 1938 and as stated earlier, its major aim was to investigate the alleged disloyalty alongside subversive activities by public employees, public citizens as well as organizations who were perceived to have communist or fascist tie. In 1969, the name of the committee was changed to the House Committee on Internal Security. On the other hand, McCarthyism was an idea that was brought forth by Senator Joseph McCarthy which was majorly observed as a practice of making unnecessary accusations of treason or subversion without proper concern to evidence. McCarthyism owes its origins in the periods in the United States that was known as Second Red Scare, which lasted from the end of the 1940s to 1950s (Walker, 2011).

The first instances of blacklisting in the history of the United States was observed in1940s and 1950s in the entertainment sector. During this time, radio and television presenters, motion picture companies as well as other films in the industry came up with names, commonly referred to as blacklists of individuals that were perceived or alleged to be communist supporters. Blacklisting involved coming up with a list of names of individuals in the public entities whose opinions and ideas were deemed subversive in the United States. These individuals accused of being communists would further be investigated. This was evidenced in the stated period when alleged communist celebrities were added to the Hollywood Blacklist and then relieved from their careers.

Richard Nixon was a former president of the United States, and therefore he played a huge role in the activities of House of Un-American Activities Committee. After his early years in the law school and the United States Navy, Nixon was elected to the House of Representatives. After that, he received an invitation to be part of the House of Un-American Activities Committee and consequently joined its primary campaign aim of being against subversion (Mann, 2009). It was as a result of Nixon's presence that the committee was able to investigate the entertainment industry where the comm...