McCarthyism and the Second
Red Scare
American Cold War Culture and Law
President Truman
Expands the federal bureaucracy.
National Security Act of 1947
NSC
DoD
CIA
President Truman
Expands fed govt size and power
Executive Order 9835
Barred members of the Communist Party
from federal employment.
Fascists too
States started to do this too
Loyalty oaths
Senator Joseph McCarthy
Wisconsin Republican facing defeat in
election of 1950
Turns to a platform of anti-Communism
The List
“I have here a list of 205 names that
were made known to the Secretary of
State as being members of the
Communist Party and who nevertheless
are still working and shaping policy in
the State Department.”
Definition of McCarthyism
The fear, suspicion, and scapegoating
that surrounded McCarthy, his
accusations and the general curtailment
of civil rights during the Cold War era.
It was a witch-hunt style campaign to
silence critics of the Cold War.
House UnAmerican Activities
Committee (HUAC)
Subcommittee of the House of
Representatives
Purpose: To root out “subversion” of
the American system
The Question: “Are you now or
have you ever been a member of
the Communist Party?”
The McCarran Act
Formal name: The Internal Security Act
Requires communist organizations to
register with the Subversive Activities
Control Board
Authorizes the arrest of suspect persons
during national emergency
Six concentration camps
built for this purpose
The Immigration and Nationality Act
Another McCarran-authored law
Barred people who were deemed either
“subversive” or “homosexual” from becoming
citizens or even visiting the U.S.
Power to deport immigrants who were
members of the Communist Party, even if
they were citizens
In effect until 1973
Examples of McCarthyism
In NYC, citizens must take loyalty oath to
receive a fishing license
FDR’s New Deal is re-evaluated as “a socialist
conspiracy” and “20 years of treason”
Jonas Salk invents vaccine for Polio; a
congressman suggests that it be distributed
to all school-age children for free.
Eisenhower’s Secretary of Health rejects the
idea as an attempt to “socialize medicine
through the backdoor.”