The Cold War at Home
Chapter 26 Section 4
Notes 6.0
Objectives…
 Describe how the United States government fought the Cold
War in America
 Discuss the major causes, personalities and events of the Red
Scare
 Compare the Red Scare of the 1920s to the Red Scare of the
1940s and 1950s
How did the National Security State
evolve?
 Concerns for national security 
broadened executive power
 Huge federal bureaucracy –
 Dependent on military
spending
Devoted to surveillance at home
and abroad
 Increase focus on national
defense
Before WWII 10% of 900,000
gov’t workers were in security
work
After WWII 75% of 4,000,000
gov’t workers
“Once a government is committed to the
principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it
has only one way to go, and that is down the
path of increasingly repressive measures, until
it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens
and creates a country where everyone lives in
fear” -- Harry S. Truman
Fears of Communist Influence
The Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, the fall of
Red China led many Americans to believe that
Communism was spreading around the world in the
late 1940’s early 1950’s
FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover estimated that there
were 100,000 Americans in the Communist Party
Some feared that Communist had infiltrated the
highest levels of GOV.
The US Government Acts
The National Security Act of 1947- Established the Department of
Defense, the National Security Council (NSC) and the CIA
Accused of being soft on Communist President Truman set up the
Federal Employee Loyalty Program
It was to investigate government employees for “sympathetic
associations” and could dismiss anyone for “reasonable grounds that
the person was disloyal.”
Later added homosexuality as a reason
State and municipal programs were enacted as well (6.6 million
investigated)
US Attorney General Clark drew up a list of
91 “subversive groups”
What was the National Security Act of
1947?
 Coordinate and administrate defense
policies and to advise the President
 Department of Defense
 National Security Council
 Gather military, political and
economic information
 CIA
Why were there concerns about
American security?
 Est. CP members in U.S.  80,000
 Many more sympathetic
 “Loss” of China
 Spy network exposed
Atomic bomb secrets
Military secrets
What was the Federal Employee Loyalty
Program?
 Executive Order 9835
 Response to criticisms – “soft” on communism – lax
internal security
 Goal: root out subversives in government jobs
 Barred members of CP from federal employment
 Loyalty checks on all government employees
How did the program work?
 FBI checked files for people
engaged in suspicious activity
 Cases  review board
 People accused found themselves
under attack – hard to clear their
names
Fed. Employees Loyalty &
Security Act
 Accused not able to see evidence
or face their accusers
 6.6 million investigated – 500
dismissed and 6,000 resigned
objecting to the investigation
What role did Attorney General Clark
play in this?
 Published a list of hundreds of
potentially subversive organizations
 Membership was rationale for dismissal
at nearly all levels of government
Fed. Employees Loyalty &
Security Act
Outlawed many political and social
organizations including church, civil
rights, musical groups and summer
camps
Stigmatized thousands who had
committed no crime
What was the McCarran Act?
 Internal Security Act
 Truman’s Loyalty Review Board did
not go far enough
 Required communist organizations
to register with the Subversive
Activities Control Board - give
membership list and financial
statement
The Internal Security/ McCarran Act
To be even tougher on subversives Congress passed the
McCarran Act
Truman called it “the greatest danger to freedom.”
Communist organizations must register with the US Gov.
Illegal to plan a totalitarian dictatorship in the US
Communists could be interned during national emergencies
No Communists in Defense Industries
Immigration and Nationality Act barred subversives and
homosexuals
Communists could be deported
Terminated in 1973
Truman’s reaction?
 Vetoed the bill
 “In a free country, we punish men for
the crimes they commit, but never for
the opinions they have.” – HST
 Law was passed over Truman’s veto
What was the House Un-American
Activities Committee?
 Started as a committee under Martin Dies
 Chaired by J. Parnell Thomas
 Expose communist influence in Am. Life
 Blurred the distinction between dissent and disloyalty
 Threatened people with the loss of jobs
How did the HUAC affect American
Life?
 Unions:
 Expel communist members
 Stay away from progressive causes championing social
justice
 Strictly pay and benefits
 Leaders had to sign a loyalty oath
 Educators:
 School teachers and college professors had to sign
loyalty oaths…
How did the HUAC affect Hollywood?
 Probed the motion picture industry
 Films had the ability to corrupt –said that some Hollywood
figures had left-wing inclinations
 Called witnesses to testify about communist influence in
films
 “friendly witnesses” cooperated
Result: Content of movies very light – avoid social or
controversial issues
The House Un-American Activities Committee
 The HUAC was a Congressional Committee that was to investigate
Communist activity
 In 1947 it targeted the movie industry
 43 “friendly” witnesses from Hollywood were subpoenaed ( Ronald
Reagan, Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck)
 Some “unfriendly” witnesses were Orsen Wells, and Charlie Chaplin
 Even Humphrey Bogart and Lucille
Ball received bad publicity
J. Parnell Thomas
 "Practically every play
presented under the
auspices of the (Federal
Theater) Project is sheer
propaganda for
Communism or the New
Deal."
HUAC
“Are you now – or have you ever been – a member
of the communist party?”
The Hollywood Ten
What was the Hollywood Ten?
 19 screenwriters, actors, and producers called to testify
 10 refused to testify – “unfriendly” witnesses
 Sent to jail for contempt of Congress
 Original 10 were blacklisted by Hollywood
 Others who were accused of communist leanings and were
also blacklisted
The Hollywood Ten
 Ten “Unfriendly witnesses” refused to testify, they thought the hearings
were unconstitutional, they were sentenced to prison by the committee
(Hollywood Ten)
 Hollywood executives instituted a “blacklist”
 500 actors, writers,
producers and directors
had their careers ruined
The blacklist remained in
effect until 1960
Committee for the First Amendment –
Hollywood liberals protesting HUAC
Spy Cases Stun the Nation
 In 1948 a former Communist spy Whittaker Chambers (Time
Magazine Editor) named former State Department Official
Alger Hiss of Spying for the USSR
Who was Alger Hiss?
 State Department official accused by admitted communist,
Whittaker Chambers, of being a communist and a spy
 Denied the charges and sued Chambers for slander
 Congressman Richard Nixon pursued the case – found
microfilm with government documents
 Hiss found guilty of perjury
The Hiss Case
 Chambers produced micro-film and documents allegedly passed to him
from Hiss “The Pumpkin Papers” Hiss denied the charges
 Congressman Richard M. Nixon pursued the charges which increased his
popularity
 Hiss was indicted for perjury--the statute of limitations for espionage
during the 1930s having long expire
 Sentenced to 5 years in prison, he served 2 years still claiming his
innocence
Ethel and
Julius
Rosenberg
Who were Ethel and Julius Rosenberg?
 1950 – Klaus Fuchs arrested for passing passing atomic
secrets to the Soviets
 He implicated David Greenglass who was a machinist at Los
Alamos
 He said his brother-in-law Julius Rosenberg had recruited
him
 Rosenbergs were tried, convicted, and executed for
espionage
Who was Senator Joe McCarthy?
 “Tailgunner” Joe
 Republican Senator from Wisconsin
 Weak – wanted reelection
 Identified himself as a leader against communism in U.S.
government
 Gave a speech to a the Republican Women’s Club in
Wheeling, W. Virginia
McCarthy…
 Claimed to have a list of 205 communists in the State
Department – then 81 – then 57
 McCarthyism – synonym for public charges without
sufficient regard for the evidence
 Demogogue…
Senator Joe McCarthy
What tactics did he use?
 Made slanderous attacks on the Senate floor
 Democrats – “soft on communism”
 Democratic Party – “the party of treason”
 Sec. of State Dean Acheson – “Red Dean”
 Fed on people’s fears
 Used the press effectively – called press conferences
Who supported him?
 Republicans who wanted a campaign issue for ’52
 Those who opposed aid to Europe and the New Deal
 Those who resented privilege and the eastern elite
 American Legion and the Chamber of Commerce
 Religious leaders and blue collar workers
What brought McCarthy’s downfall?
 He went too far
 Made attacks against the US Army
 Nationally televised investigation
 Bullied witnesses and alienated the audience
 Censured by the Senate
Joe Welch – Counsel for the Army
"Until this moment,
Senator, I think I never
really gauged your
cruelty or your
recklessness."
Americans watched the televised ArmyMcCarthy Hearings
Damage and other Anti- Communist
Measures
Because of McCarthy many repressive federal and
state laws remained in effect
Basic freedoms such as freedom of speech and
assembly were eroded
Dissent had become dangerous
The US Government investigated union leaders,
librarians, teachers, reporters, entertainers, and
scientists