The Hysteria of the
Second Red Scare
Cold War & Conformity in
the 1950s
Search for Internal Security
• Loyalty and conformity to the wishes of the country a
must for the government and society for many
Americans.
– Were highly suspicious of anything or anyone considered
different.
– Regarded people with different opinions as a pinko,
commie, or un-American.
– Only way to measure loyalty was the intensity and
consistency of a person’s anti-Communism.
– Result: a witch-hunt to root out suspected Communists
from every aspect of society.
Typical American Family
in the 1950s
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Basic Characteristics
Truman’s Foreign Policy
• Truman’s foreign policy
plays on these
sentiments.
POTUS Harry S Truman
In Masonic Garb
http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/10,000_famous_freemasons/ima
ges/harry_s_truman_pgm_missouri_1.jpg
– Reinforced the traditional
fears of the Soviets and
communism.
– Uncovered spy rings in
Canada, Britain, and other
nations confirm suspicions
about the Soviet Union’s
intent: total world
domination through the
subversion of existing
governments.
Basic Characteristics
Truman’s Foreign Policy
The Redolution
http://eatemandbeatem.com/redScare.jpg
• Cabinet members make
speeches that state that
communists were everywhere in
America and could be anybody.
– Basic message: TRUST
NOBODY.
– Wanted people to turn in
people they suspected of
associating or sympathizing
with communism.
– Special targets placed on
college campuses, Hollywood,
publishing companies, and
editorial staffs.
Basic Characteristics
American Communist Party
Communist Party of America
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl
• Activities limited and
power weakened to the
vigilant mentality of
many Americans.
• Scandals involving
suspected American
communists revolved
around their activities
during the Great
Depression.
Pre-McCarthy McCarthyism
Loyalty Review Board, Mar 1947
• Full-scale “loyalty investigation” of all present and
prospective federal employees.
• No source of information, no matter how inaccurate or
questionable, was to be ignored.
• The Central Master Index.
– A compilation of all collected loyalty data.
– An employee or prospective employee could be removed or
refused hire if they had “sympathetic association” with any
foreign or domestic organization designated by the attorney
general as “subversive.”
• Impact of the LRB.
– Business organizations, labor unions, and the government
would use the list to fire or deny hiring employees.
– Laid the ground work for the new Red Scare and the witch
hunts of HUAC and Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Pre-McCarthy McCarthyism
HUAC
(House Un-American Activities Committee)
• Origins.
Richard Nixon (Right)
In His HUAC Days
http://jeremayakovka.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/07/11/ni
xon_stripling.jpg
– Originally founded in 1938
during the New Deal as a
temporary investigations
unit.
– Fell out of favor in World
War II, but was revived by
newly-elected Congressman
Richard Nixon of CA.
– Would serve to destroy the
lives of suspected
Communists and advance
the political careers of key
individual politicians.
Pre-McCarthy McCarthyism
HUAC
(House Un-American Activities Committee)
• Purpose.
– Search for suspected Communists, root
them out, and investigate the extent of
their infiltration.
Members of HUAC
http://www.billmandel.net/i/huac_members.jpg
Pre-McCarthy McCarthyism
HUAC
(House Un-American Activities Committee)
• How HUAC functioned.
Political Cartoon
Criticizing HUAC Methods
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhuac.JPG
– Manipulated various channels of
publicity to reveal the political
associations of individuals who
had unorthodox ideals and
ostracize them from positions of
power.
– Threatened and manipulated
witnesses.
• As a result, many would tell
lies in order to save their own
skin.
• Refusal to answer questions or
cooperate was similar to an
admission of guilt.
Pre-McCarthy McCarthyism
HUAC
(House Un-American Activities Committee)
• The Hollywood Scandals
of October, 1947.
Prominent Actors & Writers Protesting
the Hollywood Ten Scandals
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2346/2018958027_f09c48d75e_o.jpg
– Wanted to “expose those
elements that are
insidiously trying
to…poison the minds of
your children, distort the
history of our country, and
discredit Christianity.”
– Was a failure in its attempt
to prove Communist
influence in the film
industry.
Pre-McCarthy McCarthyism
HUAC
(House Un-American Activities Committee)
• What it did do:
– Frightened movie, television,
and radio executives into
doing a housecleaning.
– Blacklisted actors,
actresses, writers, and
directors who were
suspected of having
Communist sympathies.
– Forced the movie, television,
radio, comic book, and
Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall
Leading An Actors Protest Against HUAC newspaper industries to set
strict standards, many of
which would last into the
Eighties.
http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/childs1/OutlineSecond%20Red%20Scare_files/image001.jpg
Pre-McCarthy McCarthyism
HUAC
(House Un-American Activities Committee)
• Whittaker Chambers.
– Former member of the
Communist party, quit
in 1937.
– When interviewed by
HUAC, he was one of
the top editors at Time
magazine.
Whittaker Chambers Giving
Testimony At HUAC Hearings
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/chambersHUAC1.jpg
• Was still in contact with
many of his former
friends who now held
positions of power in
Washington, D.C.
Pre-McCarthy McCarthyism
HUAC
(House Un-American Activities Committee)
• Alger Hiss.
Alger Hiss Swearing To Tell The Truth
Before the HUAC Hearings
http://southdakotapolitics.blogs.com/south_dakota_politics/images/alger_hiss_takes_oath.jpg
– Former associate of
Chambers, was an official
in the State Department
during the New Deal and
the early years of World
War II.
– President of the Carnegie
Endowment for
International Peace, one
of the world’s richest
philanthropic institute,
since 1947.
– Accused by Chambers of
still being a Communist.
Pre-McCarthy McCarthyism
HUAC
(House Un-American Activities Committee)
• Alger Hiss.
Chambers Reading Of The Decision
Of HUAC On Alger Hiss
http://www.authentichistory.com/1950s/speeches/images/19500123_Whittaker_Chambers.jpg
– Hiss denies the accusations and
demands to have a hearing by
HUAC.
– Chambers is reexamined and
details are brought out
concerning the activities of
Chambers and Hiss.
– Hiss and Chambers were involved
in a Soviet spy ring.
– Hiss was passing classified
government documents to the
Soviets.
– Hiss denies involvement.
– HUAC does not buy it, sentences
Hiss to five years in prison and a
$10,000 fine for perjury.
Pre-McCarthy McCarthyism
HUAC
(House Un-American Activities Committee)
• Impact.
Criticism Of HUAC
http://www.moderntimes.com/blacklist/image/huac.jpg
– Would further uphold the
belief that privileged,
high-positioned
individuals had betrayed
the country.
– HUAC would gain
support from established
Americas, as well as
Irish, Italian, and Polish
immigrants in the
Midwest.
Joseph McCarthy
McCarthyism Defined
• An expression for wild, unfounded charges of disloyalty.
– Basically conducted as a witch hunt.
McCarthy Campaigning
For A Senate Seat
http://www.faculty.umb.edu/hannah_sevian/G660/TechPres/Fall2
003/McCarthyism_files/image002.jpg
Joseph McCarthy
McCarthy: Rise To Power
• Wheeling Speech,
February 9, 1950.
McCarthy With “The List”
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmccarthy3.jpg
– Declared that the United
States had emerged from
World War II as the
strongest nation in the
world.
– Believed that it had been
weakened in recent years
“because of the traitorous
actions of those who have
been treated so well by
this nation.”
Joseph McCarthy
McCarthy: Rise To Power
• Wheeling Speech, (Cont.).
– None were worse than “those
bright young men” in the State
Department “born silver spoons in
their mouths.”
• Blames the privileged, educated New
Dealers brought in by FDR.
McCarthy Delivering
Wheeling Speech
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/feature/mccarthy/images/WHS_Ima
ge_ID_8006.jpg
– “I have in my hand the names of
205 men that were known to the
Secretary of State as being
members of the Communist party
and who nevertheless are still
working and shaping the policy of
the State Department.”
• Never substantiated a single name,
but increased the accusations.
Joseph McCarthy
McCarthy: Stroke of Luck--Spies
• Klaus Fuchs.
Klaus Fuchs ID Badge
At Los Alamos
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Klaus_Fuch
s_ID_badge.png
– German-born nuclear
physicist who worked on
the atomic bomb at Los
Alamos.
– Was passing secrets to the
Russians.
– Arrested by the British,
sentenced to four years in
prison for espionage, and
implicated other American
Communists in his
activities, including
officials in the American
government.
Joseph McCarthy
McCarthy: Stroke of Luck--Spies
• Ethel and Julius
Rosenberg.
Ethel & Julius Rosenberg Awaiting Execution
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Julius_and_Ethel_Rosenberg_NYWTS.jpg
– Charged with passing
atomic secrets and
speeding up Russian
success with the
atomic bomb.
– Judge declared the
crime “worse than
murder.”
– Rosenbergs
sentenced to death
and executed in 1953.
Joseph McCarthy
McCarthy: Picks Up Steam
• McCarthy supports
General MacArthur
following his dismissal by
Truman.
• Attacks General Marshall
and General Eisenhower,
accusing them of “being
soft” on Communists in
the military.
General Douglas MacArthur
http://splinteredsunrise.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/douglas_macarthur.jpg
– Some Americans felt
McCarthy had gone too far,
but money kept pouring
into McCarthy’s election
coffers.
Joseph McCarthy
McCarran Acts, 1952
• McCarran Internal Security Act.
– Made it unlawful to conspire to establish a
totalitarian dictatorship.
– All “communist-action” and “communist front”
organizations were assumed to be such
conspiracies.
• Required to register all members and meeting notes
with the Attorney General.
– Gave the president the power to arrest and
detain any person that would “probably”
engage in acts of espionage and sabotage.
Joseph McCarthy
McCarran Acts, 1952
• Truman’s response.
POTUS Harry S Truman
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/7/73/180px
-Truman_initiating_Korean_involvement.jpg
– Vetoes the bill, calling it
“the greatest danger to
freedom of speech, press,
and assembly since the
alien and sedition acts of
1798.”
– Believed it was actually a
step towards the
totalitarianism it was meant
to combat.
• Congress overrides the
veto.
Joseph McCarthy
McCarran Acts, 1952
• McCarran-Walter Immigration
Act.
– Again passed over Truman’s veto.
– Empowered the Attorney General
to screen out subversives within
the permitted quotas and also
allowed the Attorney General to
deport them even after they
became naturalized citizens.
• Impact.
Criticism Of McCarthyism
http://content.screencast.com/media/
– Intensified America’s
preoccupation with internal
security.
– Increases American xenophobia.
– Supported McCarthy’s unfounded
claims.
Joseph McCarthy
Decline of McCarthyism, 1953-55
• Attack on Ambassador
Charles E. Bohlen.
Charles E. Bohlen
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/1/1a/196px
-Charles_Bohlen.png
– Good friend of President
Eisenhower, served as FDR’s
interpreter at Yalta.
– Received the “consent” of
McCarthy after a vicious
character assassination and
lobbying by McCarthy to
appoint the new State
Department “security
officer.”
Joseph McCarthy
Decline of McCarthyism, 1953-55
• International Information
Administration.
– Branch of the State Department
responsible for disseminating
printed materials to other
countries.
Book Burning In The U.S.
http://www.911familiesforamerica.org/wpcontent/uploads/2007/05/nazi-book-burning-1933.jpg
• Failed to uncover a single
Communist, but many books,
including those of prominent
American writers Hemingway
and Fitzgerald, were
withdrawn and some publicly
burned.
– Shocked many Americans who
were tiring of McCarthy’s Nazistyle tactics.
Joseph McCarthy
Decline of McCarthyism, 1953-55
• Army-McCarthy Hearings.
– McCarthy accuses the U.S.
Army of “coddling”
Communists in the U.S.
– Also questions the loyalty
and integrity of several top
generals.
Americans Watching The Army-McCarthy
Hearings At A Television Store
http://www2.jsonline.com/news/2000/y2k/ourcentury/images/CENTURY-MCCARTHY2.jpg
• First time many Americans
actually witnessed
McCarthy’s wild accusations.
• Very offensive to the viewing
audience, Army officials, and
his fellow Senators.
Joseph McCarthy
Decline of McCarthyism, 1953-55
• Army-McCarthy Hearings.
– Result: Senate officially condemns McCarthy for
“conduct unbecoming a member of the United States
Senate.”
– McCarthy’s power would decline until his death in 1957
from alcoholism.
Army-McCarthy Hearings
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Arthur Miller: The Crucible
Background of Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller &
Marilyn Monroe
http://www.un-scripted.com/blogs/alan/uploaded_images/Miller-727882.jpg
• One of Marilyn Monroe’s
ex-husbands.
• Noted playwright and
author, works included
The Man Who Had All
the Luck (1944), All My
Sons (1944), The Story
of GI Joe (1945), Focus
(1945), Death of a
Salesman (1949), and
The Crucible (1953).
Arthur Miller: The Crucible
Background of Arthur Miller
• Called before HUAC in the early 1940s
along with writer Eliz Kazan.
Arthur Miller Testifying
In Front Of HUAC
http://www.ucm.es/info/FInglesa/ArthurMillerHUAC.jpg
– Answered HUAC’s questions
concerning his own activities.
– Had attended a few writers’ meetings
sponsored by the Communist party in
1947, but did not join the party.
– Supported a peace conference held at
the Waldorf-Astoria in New York,
where he signed many appeals and
protests to the Korean War.
– Refused to name others who he knew
associated with leftist or Communist
organizations. Felt that their political
views were none of his or the
government’s business. Cited for
contempt of Congress, but overturned.
Arthur Miller: The Crucible
The Crucible
• Based on court
records and
historical
personages from
the Salem Witch
Trials of 1692.
Scene From The 1996 Film
Version Of The Crucible
http://www.witchvox.com/media/media_images/crucible3.jpg
– Discussed how
persecution and
unfounded
accusations can
affect humanity.
Arthur Miller: The Crucible
The Crucible
• Was an allegory for the
McCarthy era and mass
hysteria.
Cover To The Crucible
http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/6323/thecrucibleev5.jpg
– According to Miller, the play
was written in an
atmosphere that “accepted
the notion that conscience
was no longer a private
matter, but one of state
administration.”
– Expresses his faith in the
ability of an individual to
resist conformist pressures.