History UsefulNotes / JosephMcCarthy

Ultimately, [=McCarthy's=] downfall was caused by an emerging new medium called television. In early 1954, Edward R. Murrow's ''See It Now'' series broadcast an episode condemning [=McCarthy=], a risky move at the time. [=McCarthy=] appeared on a later episode to respond, predictably not addressing a single point made against him and instead [[AdHominem accusing Murrow of being a communist]]. That same year, the [=Army–McCarthy=] hearings took place, investigating the possibility of communist subversion in the U.S. Army. The television coverage of the hearings gave the American public a good, long look at [=McCarthy=] and they didn't like what they saw. The senator came off as bullying and the hearings have become known for a ShutUpHannibal moment, when Joseph Welch said, "Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator, you've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?" Welch's words were met with applause from the rest of the room.

History, of course, remembers [=McCarthy=] as a wild, paranoid demagogue. There are some who disagree with this assessment, however. The 1995 release of the Venona papers, which revealed that there were more Soviet agents in the U.S. government than previously believed, has caused some conservative commentators, most notably Ann Coulter, to argue that [=McCarthy=] has been VindicatedByHistory. Others argue that, if anything, [=McCarthy's=] antics damaged legitimate efforts to locate Soviet agents by making the cause look irrational. For the record, that was the opinion of Truman and Eisenhower, both of whom made similar snarky comments about how the Kremlin ought to just put [=McCarthy=] on their payroll.

History, of course, remembers [=McCarthy=] as a wild, paranoid demagogue. The 1995 release of the Venona papers, which revealed that there were more Soviet agents in the U.S. government than previously believed, has caused some conservative commentators, most notably Ann Coulter, to argue that [=McCarthy=] has been VindicatedByHistory. Others argue that, if anything, [=McCarthy's=] antics damaged legitimate efforts to locate Soviet agents by making the cause look irrational. For the record, that was the opinion of Truman and Eisenhower, both of whom made similar snarky comments about how the Kremlin ought to just put [=McCarthy=] on their payroll.

History, of course, remembers [=McCarthy=] as a wild, paranoid demagogue. However, Soviet records opened following TheGreatPoliticsMessUp reveal there were more Soviet agents in the U.S. government than previously believed. Some conservative commentators, most notably Ann Coulter, argue that this means [=McCarthy=] has been VindicatedByHistory. Others argue that, if anything, [=McCarthy's=] antics damaged legitimate efforts to locate Soviet agents by making the cause look irrational. For the record, that was the opinion of Truman and Eisenhower, both of whom made similar snarky comments about how the Kremlin ought to just put [=McCarthy=] on their payroll.

* In an episode of ''{{Series/Mash}}'', Frank Burns complained that Hawkeye and Trapper drew fangs on his picture of Senator [=McCarthy=].

* StockFootage of [=McCarthy=] is used in ''Film/GoodNightAndGoodLuck''. Not realizing that they were seeing footage of the real [=McCarthy=], [[YourCostumeNeedsWork test audiences thought the actor playing McCarthy was hamming it up too much]].

[=McCarthy=] first rose to prominence in 1950, three years after he became the junior senator from Wisconsin. Making a speech in West Virginia, he declared that the U.S. State Department was infested with known communists. The press took notice and launched [=McCarthy=] into the nationwide spotlight. At the time, the Democrats had been in control of the White House for twenty years, under the administrations of UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt and UsefulNotes/HarryTruman. [=McCarthy=], a Republican, accused the Democrats of committing "twenty years of treason". Needless to say, [=McCarthy=] supported UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower, the Republican canidate, in the 1952 presidential election. Once in office, Eisenhower lead a strongly anti-communist foreign policy, but it wasn't quite anti-communist enough for [=McCarthy=]. A year into Eisenhower's presidency, [=McCarthy=] didn't like Ike anymore and had updated his CatchPhrase to refer to twenty-''one'' years of treason.

* In general, works of fiction dealing with [=McCarthyism=] tend to opt for a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of [=McCarthy=] rather than actually naming him. A notable example of this is ''Literature/TheManchurianCandidate'', in which the [=McCarthy=] analogue turns out to be a Soviet agent.

* In general, works of fiction dealing with [=McCarthyism=] tend to opt for a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of [=McCarthy=] rather than actually naming him.

* In general, works of fiction dealing with this period will usually opt for an obvious {{expy}} of [=McCarthy=] rather than [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed naming him]].

* StockFootage of [=McCarthy=] is used in ''Film/GoodNightAndGoodLuck''. Apparently, [[YourCostumeNeedsWork test audiences thought the actor playing McCarthy was hamming it up too much]].

Incidentally, while [=McCarthy=] is best-known for his crusade against communists, he also led a similar crusade against homosexuals. Some historians have argued that this "lavender scare", as it is called, was actually much more destructive than the red one.

Incidentally, while [=McCarthy=] is best-known for his crusade against communists, he also led a similar crusade against homosexuals, which is called the "Lavender scare".

Joseph R. [=McCarthy=] (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was the U.S. senator who inspired the term [="McCarthyism"=], which now evokes a combination of WitchHunt, RedScare, and PatrioticFervor.

After ''See It Now'' and the [=Army–McCarthy=] hearings, public opinion begam to turn against [=McCarthy=]. Even some of the most anti-communist Republicans now saw him as a liability and wanted him to StopBeingStereotypical. This was followed by the Senate voting to censure [=McCarthy=]. The censure received unanimous support from the Democrats while the Republicans were split evenly. Incidentally, the only senator not present for the vote was none other than UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, who was recuperating from back surgery at the time. [=McCarthy=] dismissed the censure as inconsequential and declared that it was the result of (you guessed it) communist subversion. He continued to rail against the red menace, but his nationwide fame and political clout were over. Eisenhower quipped that [=McCarthyism=] was now [="McCarthywasm"=]. [=McCarthy=] began drinking heavily. In 1957, he died at the age of forty-eight, probably from alcoholism.

History, of course, remembers [=McCarthy=] as a wild, paranoid demagogue. However, Soviet records opened following TheGreatPoliticsMessUp reveal there were more Soviet agents in the U.S. government than previously believed. Some conservative commentators, most notably Ann Coulter, argue that this means [=McCarthy=] has been VindicatedByHistory. Others argue that, if anything, [=McCarthy's=] antics damaged legitimate efforts to locate Soviet agents by making the cause look irrational. For the record, that was the opinion of Truman and Eisenhower, both of whom made similar snarky comments about how the Kremlin ought to just put [=McCarthy=] on their payroll.

[=McCarthy=] is known for having been an extremely anti-communist U.S. senator during TheFifties. Due to his inconic status as the symbol of the RedScare, [=McCarthy=] is often blamed for everything that happened back then. To be clear, he did ''not'' have anything to do with Alger Hiss, the Rosenbergs, the [[HauledBeforeASenateSubCommittee House Un-American Activities Committee]], or UsefulNotes/TheHollywoodBlacklist. HUAC and the blacklist were certainly in the spirit of [=McCarthyism=], but the man himself wasn't actually involved. The big clue is that [=McCarthy=] was a member of the ''Senate'' whereas HUAC was a committee of the ''House'' of Representatives.

[=McCarthy=] is known for having been an extremely anti-communist U.S. senator during TheFifties. Due to his inconic status as the symbol of the RedScare, [=McCarthy=] is often blamed for everything that happened back then. To be clear, he did ''not'' have anything to do with Alger Hiss, the Rosenbergs, the [[HauledBeforeASenateSubCommittee House Un-American Activities Committee]], or UsefulNotes/TheHollywoodBlacklist. HUAC and the blacklist were certainly in the spirit of [=McCarthyism=], but the man himself wasn't actually involved in those things. The big clue is that [=McCarthy=] was a member of the ''Senate'' whereas HUAC was a committee of the ''House'' of Representatives.

[=McCarthy=] is known for having been an extremely anti-communist U.S. senator during TheFifties. Due to his inconic status as the symbol of the RedScare, [=McCarthy=] is often blamed for everything that happened back then. To be clear, he did ''not'' have anything to do with Alger Hiss, the Rosenbergs, the [[HauledBeforeASenateSubCommittee House Un-American Activities Committee]], or UsefulNotes/TheHollywoodBlacklist. HUAC and the blacklist were certainly in the spirit of [=McCarthyism=], but the man himself wasn't actually involved in those things.

[=McCarthy=] is known for having been an extremely anti-communist U.S. senator during TheFifties. Due to his inconic status as the symbol of the RedScare, [=McCarthy=] is often blamed for everything that happened back then. To be clear, he did ''not'' have anything to do with Alger Hiss, the Rosenbergs, the [[HauledBeforeASenateSubCommittee House Un-American Activities Committee]] or UsefulNotes/TheHollywoodBlacklist. He probably really loved those things (and if he didn't, it would be for not being anti-communist enough), but he wasn't actually involved.

[=McCarthy=] is known for having been an extremely anti-communist U.S. senator during TheFifties. Due to his inconic status as the symbol of the RedScare, [=McCarthy=] is often blamed for everything that happened back then. However, he did not have anything to do with the [[HauledBeforeASenateSubCommittee House Un-American Activities Committee]] or UsefulNotes/TheHollywoodBlacklist. He probably really loved those things (and if he didn't, it would be for not being anti-communist enough), but he wasn't actually involved.

[=McCarthy=] is now having been an extremely anti-communist U.S. senator during TheFifties. Due to his inconic status as the symbol of the RedScare, [=McCarthy=] is often blamed for everything that happened back then. However, he did not have anything to do with the [[HauledBeforeASenateSubCommittee House Un-American Activities Committee]] or UsefulNotes/TheHollywoodBlacklist. He probably really loved those things (and if he didn't, it would be for not being anti-communist enough), but he wasn't actually involved.

[=McCarthy=] was an extremely anti-communist senator in the United States during TheFifties. Due to his inconic status as the symbol of the RedScare, [=McCarthy=] is often blamed for everything that happened back then. However, he did not have anything to do with the [[HauledBeforeASenateSubCommittee House Un-American Activities Committee]] or UsefulNotes/TheHollywoodBlacklist. He probably really loved those things (and if he didn't, it would be for not being anti-communist enough), but he wasn't actually involved.

-->''"[=McCarthyism=] is Americanism with its sleeves rolled."''
-->- '''Joseph [=McCarthy=]'''[='s=] attempt to [[InsultBackfire reclaim]] the term he inspired

-->''"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men — not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular."''
-->- '''Edward R. Murrow'''[='s=] attack on [=McCarthyism=]

--''"[=McCarthyism=] is Americanism with its sleeves rolled."

-->'''Edward R. Murrow'''[='s=] attack on [=McCarthyism=]

Senator Joseph R. [=McCarthy=]. The very name has become synonymous with {{Witch Hunt}}s.

[=McCarthy=] was an extremely anti-communist senator in the United States during TheFifties. Due to his inconic status as the symbol of the RedScare, [=McCarthy=] is often blamed for everything that happened back then. However, he did not have anything to do with the [[HauledBeforeASenateSubCommittee House Un-American Activities Committee]] or the Hollywood blacklist. He probably really loved those things (and if he didn't, it would be for not being anti-communist enough), but he wasn't actually involved.

-->'''Edward R. Murrow'''[='s=] attack on [=[=McCarthy=]ism=]

After ''See It Now'' and the [=Army–McCarthy=] hearings, public opinion begam to turn against [=McCarthy=]. Even some of the most anti-communist Republicans now saw him as a liability and wanted him to StopBeingStereotypical. This was followed by the Senate voting to censure [=McCarthy=]. The censure received unanimous support from the Democrats while the Republicans were split evenly. Incidentally, the only senator not present for the vote was none other than UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, who was recuperating from back surgery at the time. [=McCarthy=] dismissed the censure as inconsequential and declared that it was the result of (you guessed it) communist subversion. He continued to rail against the red menace, but his nationwide fame and political clout were over. Eisenhower quipped that McCarthyism was now "McCarthywasm". [=McCarthy=] began drinking heavily. In 1957, he died at the age of forty-eight, probably from alcoholism.