McCarthyism - Revision history

Wisconcom at 23:15, 17 July 2026

2026-07-17T23:15:22Z

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			{{Anti-communism sidebar}}
	'''McCarthyism''' or the '''Second Red Scare''' comprised a peak of "red-baiting" in [[United States]] politics during the 1940s and '50s. Although the [[communist]] hysteria had roots in the conservative opposition to the progressive policies of [[FDR]], politicians like [[Joseph McCarthy]] and [[Richard Nixon]] elevated it into a headline issue when they accused the [[Democratic Party (United States)\|Democratic]] Truman administration of being infiltrated with communists and communist collaborators. American elites, especially the media, exploited highly publicized stories, such as the trial and execution of suspected [[Soviet Union\|Soviet]] spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, in order to effectively saturate American public opinion with anti-communist talking points. Senator McCarthy himself gained political influence by accusing progressively larger and more prominent figures of harboring communist sympathies, often in combination with virulent [[Homophobia\|homophobic]] attacks, but his influence quickly waned after 1954, when he attempted to take on the Army in a series of nationally televised hearings. However, even McCarthy's many critics usually attacked him as an overzealous "witch hunter" who had targeted innocent non-communists for political gain. The question of his right to even discriminate against American citizens on the basis of their political persuasion went largely unasked.		'''McCarthyism''' or the '''Second Red Scare''' comprised a peak of "red-baiting" in [[United States]] politics during the 1940s and '50s. Although the [[communist]] hysteria had roots in the conservative opposition to the progressive policies of [[FDR]], politicians like [[Joseph McCarthy]] and [[Richard Nixon]] elevated it into a headline issue when they accused the [[Democratic Party (United States)\|Democratic]] Truman administration of being infiltrated with communists and communist collaborators. American elites, especially the media, exploited highly publicized stories, such as the trial and execution of suspected [[Soviet Union\|Soviet]] spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, in order to effectively saturate American public opinion with anti-communist talking points. Senator McCarthy himself gained political influence by accusing progressively larger and more prominent figures of harboring communist sympathies, often in combination with virulent [[Homophobia\|homophobic]] attacks, but his influence quickly waned after 1954, when he attempted to take on the Army in a series of nationally televised hearings. However, even McCarthy's many critics usually attacked him as an overzealous "witch hunter" who had targeted innocent non-communists for political gain. The question of his right to even discriminate against American citizens on the basis of their political persuasion went largely unasked.

Wisconcom at 23:12, 17 July 2026

2026-07-17T23:12:30Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:12, 17 July 2026
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	'''McCarthyism''' or the '''Second Red Scare''' comprised a peak of "red-baiting" in US politics during the 1940s and '50s. Although the communist hysteria had roots in the conservative opposition to the progressive policies of [[FDR]], politicians like [[Joseph McCarthy]] and [[Richard Nixon]] elevated it into a headline issue when they accused the [[Democratic Party (United States)\|Democratic]] Truman administration of being infiltrated with communists and communist collaborators. American elites, especially the media, exploited highly publicized stories, such as the trial and execution of suspected [[Soviet Union\|Soviet]] spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, in order to effectively saturate American public opinion with anti-communist talking points. Senator McCarthy himself gained political influence by accusing progressively larger and more prominent figures of harboring communist sympathies, often in combination with virulent [[Homophobia\|homophobic]] attacks, but his influence quickly waned after 1954, when he attempted to take on the Army in a series of nationally televised hearings. However, even McCarthy's many critics usually attacked him as an overzealous "witch hunter" who had targeted innocent non-communists for political gain. The question of his right to even discriminate against American citizens on the basis of their political persuasion went largely unasked.		'''McCarthyism''' or the '''Second Red Scare''' comprised a peak of "red-baiting" in [[United States]] politics during the 1940s and '50s. Although the [[communist]] hysteria had roots in the conservative opposition to the progressive policies of [[FDR]], politicians like [[Joseph McCarthy]] and [[Richard Nixon]] elevated it into a headline issue when they accused the [[Democratic Party (United States)\|Democratic]] Truman administration of being infiltrated with communists and communist collaborators. American elites, especially the media, exploited highly publicized stories, such as the trial and execution of suspected [[Soviet Union\|Soviet]] spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, in order to effectively saturate American public opinion with anti-communist talking points. Senator McCarthy himself gained political influence by accusing progressively larger and more prominent figures of harboring communist sympathies, often in combination with virulent [[Homophobia\|homophobic]] attacks, but his influence quickly waned after 1954, when he attempted to take on the Army in a series of nationally televised hearings. However, even McCarthy's many critics usually attacked him as an overzealous "witch hunter" who had targeted innocent non-communists for political gain. The question of his right to even discriminate against American citizens on the basis of their political persuasion went largely unasked.

	McCarthyism at its height could be analyzed as a form of moral panic or "[[culture war]]", a phenomenon which has largely defined American reactionism to the present day. McCarthyist actions included blacklisting perceived communists from holding influential positions and banning certain books, including, in one instance, the Robin Hood legend: "[Communists] want to stress it because he robbed the rich and gave it to the poor. That’s the Communist line."<ref>{{cite web \| last=Bigelow \| first=Bill \| title=The Green Feather Movement \| website=Zinn Education Project \| date=1 Mar 2023 \| url=https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/the-green-feather-movement/ \| access-date=13 Jul 2023}}</ref> The FBI investigated even vaguely anti-capitalist films such as 1946's ''It's a Wonderful Life''.<ref>{{cite web \| last=Nichols \| first=John \| title=That Time the FBI Scrutinized "It's a Wonderful Life" for Communist Messaging \| website=The Nation \| date=24 Dec 2021 \| url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/fbi-red-scare-hollywood/ \| access-date=13 Jul 2023}}</ref> But most of all, the US government and conservative labor organizers collaborated to root out communists, socialists, and "fellow travelers" from the American labor movement.		McCarthyism at its height could be analyzed as a form of moral panic or "[[culture war]]", a phenomenon which has largely defined American reactionism to the present day. McCarthyist actions included blacklisting perceived communists from holding influential positions and banning certain books, including, in one instance, the Robin Hood legend: "[Communists] want to stress it because he robbed the rich and gave it to the poor. That’s the Communist line."<ref>{{cite web \| last=Bigelow \| first=Bill \| title=The Green Feather Movement \| website=Zinn Education Project \| date=1 Mar 2023 \| url=https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/the-green-feather-movement/ \| access-date=13 Jul 2023}}</ref> The FBI investigated even vaguely anti-capitalist films such as 1946's ''It's a Wonderful Life''.<ref>{{cite web \| last=Nichols \| first=John \| title=That Time the FBI Scrutinized "It's a Wonderful Life" for Communist Messaging \| website=The Nation \| date=24 Dec 2021 \| url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/fbi-red-scare-hollywood/ \| access-date=13 Jul 2023}}</ref> But most of all, the US government and conservative labor organizers collaborated to root out communists, socialists, and "fellow travelers" from the American labor movement.

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	McCarthyism at its height could be analyzed as a form of moral panic or "[[culture war]]", a phenomenon which has largely defined American reactionism to the present day. McCarthyist actions included blacklisting perceived communists from holding influential positions and banning certain books, including, in one instance, the Robin Hood legend: "[Communists] want to stress it because he robbed the rich and gave it to the poor. That’s the Communist line."<ref>{{cite web \| last=Bigelow \| first=Bill \| title=The Green Feather Movement \| website=Zinn Education Project \| date=1 Mar 2023 \| url=https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/the-green-feather-movement/ \| access-date=13 Jul 2023}}</ref> The FBI investigated even vaguely anti-capitalist films such as 1946's ''It's a Wonderful Life''.<ref>{{cite web \| last=Nichols \| first=John \| title=That Time the FBI Scrutinized "It's a Wonderful Life" for Communist Messaging \| website=The Nation \| date=24 Dec 2021 \| url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/fbi-red-scare-hollywood/ \| access-date=13 Jul 2023}}</ref> But most of all, the US government and conservative labor organizers collaborated to root out communists, socialists, and "fellow travelers" from the American labor movement.		McCarthyism at its height could be analyzed as a form of moral panic or "[[culture war]]", a phenomenon which has largely defined American reactionism to the present day. McCarthyist actions included blacklisting perceived communists from holding influential positions and banning certain books, including, in one instance, the Robin Hood legend: "[Communists] want to stress it because he robbed the rich and gave it to the poor. That’s the Communist line."<ref>{{cite web \| last=Bigelow \| first=Bill \| title=The Green Feather Movement \| website=Zinn Education Project \| date=1 Mar 2023 \| url=https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/the-green-feather-movement/ \| access-date=13 Jul 2023}}</ref> The FBI investigated even vaguely anti-capitalist films such as 1946's ''It's a Wonderful Life''.<ref>{{cite web \| last=Nichols \| first=John \| title=That Time the FBI Scrutinized "It's a Wonderful Life" for Communist Messaging \| website=The Nation \| date=24 Dec 2021 \| url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/fbi-red-scare-hollywood/ \| access-date=13 Jul 2023}}</ref> But most of all, the US government and conservative labor organizers collaborated to root out communists, socialists, and "fellow travelers" from the American labor movement.

	The impact of McCarthyism on American labor was devastating. In the early 20th century, radical leftists had been widely acknowledged as the most effective and motivated organizers in the labor movement.{{sfn\|Lichtenstein\|2002\|pp=27; 45-46}}<ref>{{cite book \| last=McAlevey \| first=Jane F. \| title=No Shortcuts \| publisher=Oxford University Press, USA \| date=2018 \| isbn=978-0-19-086865-9\|pp=27–40 passim}} See also section on influence of anti-communist organizer Saul Alinsky: pp. 40-58 and throughout the work.</ref> Anti-communist organizer John L. Lewis of the United Mine Workers hired communist organizers only to purge them once they had won the campaign, infamously stating, "Who gets the bird, the hunter or the dog?"{{sfn\|McAlevey\|2018\|p=32}} Perhaps more important, communists were also responsible for furthering the workers' [[class consciousness]] through agitation and education. The McCarthyist elimination of communist "influence" in the unions they themselves had helped to build thus could have contributed to the weakness of the working class during the era of [[embedded liberalism]]: by the 1960s, red-baiting and union purging led to an atmosphere of accommodation that had denatured the ideological character of the American labor movement into "a fight without ideologies, without red flags, without May Day parades."<ref>{{cite book \| last=Lipset \| first=Seymour Martin \| title=Political Man: The social bases of politics \| publisher=Doubleday and Company \| publication-place=New York \| year=1960 \| oclc=1024685999\|p=408}}</ref> This would eventually soften the ground for the arrival of [[neoliberalism\|neoliberal]] ideology once disillusionment with radical unionism and the ideologically neutered "Big Labor" had set in.<ref>{{cite book \| last=Lichtenstein \| first=Nelson \|edition=1\| title=State of the Union \| publisher=Princeton University Press \| date=2002 \| chapter=Chapter 4: Erosion of the Union Idea}}</ref>		The impact of McCarthyism on American labor was devastating. In the early 20th century, radical leftists had been widely acknowledged as the most effective and motivated organizers in the labor movement.<!-- {{sfn\|Lichtenstein\|2002\|pp=27; 45-46}} --><ref>{{cite book \| last=McAlevey \| first=Jane F. \| title=No Shortcuts \| publisher=Oxford University Press, USA \| date=2018 \| isbn=978-0-19-086865-9\|pp=27–40 passim}} See also section on influence of anti-communist organizer Saul Alinsky: pp. 40-58 and throughout the work.</ref> Anti-communist organizer John L. Lewis of the United Mine Workers hired communist organizers only to purge them once they had won the campaign, infamously stating, "Who gets the bird, the hunter or the dog?"<!-- {{sfn\|McAlevey\|2018\|p=32}}--> Perhaps more important, communists were also responsible for furthering the workers' [[class consciousness]] through agitation and education. The McCarthyist elimination of communist "influence" in the unions they themselves had helped to build thus could have contributed to the weakness of the working class during the era of [[embedded liberalism]]: by the 1960s, red-baiting and union purging led to an atmosphere of accommodation that had denatured the ideological character of the American labor movement into "a fight without ideologies, without red flags, without May Day parades."<ref>{{cite book \| last=Lipset \| first=Seymour Martin \| title=Political Man: The social bases of politics \| publisher=Doubleday and Company \| publication-place=New York \| year=1960 \| oclc=1024685999\|p=408}}</ref> This would eventually soften the ground for the arrival of [[neoliberalism\|neoliberal]] ideology once disillusionment with radical unionism and the ideologically neutered "Big Labor" had set in.<ref>{{cite book \| last=Lichtenstein \| first=Nelson \|edition=1\| title=State of the Union \| publisher=Princeton University Press \| date=2002 \| chapter=Chapter 4: Erosion of the Union Idea}}</ref>

	==See also==		==See also==

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2026-07-17T23:06:39Z

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'''McCarthyism''' or the '''Second Red Scare''' comprised a peak of "red-baiting" in US politics during the 1940s and '50s. Although the communist hysteria had roots in the conservative opposition to the progressive policies of [[FDR]], politicians like [[Joseph McCarthy]] and [[Richard Nixon]] elevated it into a headline issue when they accused the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] Truman administration of being infiltrated with communists and communist collaborators. American elites, especially the media, exploited highly publicized stories, such as the trial and execution of suspected [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, in order to effectively saturate American public opinion with anti-communist talking points. Senator McCarthy himself gained political influence by accusing progressively larger and more prominent figures of harboring communist sympathies, often in combination with virulent [[Homophobia|homophobic]] attacks, but his influence quickly waned after 1954, when he attempted to take on the Army in a series of nationally televised hearings. However, even McCarthy's many critics usually attacked him as an overzealous "witch hunter" who had targeted innocent non-communists for political gain. The question of his right to even discriminate against American citizens on the basis of their political persuasion went largely unasked.

McCarthyism at its height could be analyzed as a form of moral panic or "[[culture war]]", a phenomenon which has largely defined American reactionism to the present day. McCarthyist actions included blacklisting perceived communists from holding influential positions and banning certain books, including, in one instance, the Robin Hood legend: "[Communists] want to stress it because he robbed the rich and gave it to the poor. That’s the Communist line."<ref>{{cite web | last=Bigelow | first=Bill | title=The Green Feather Movement | website=Zinn Education Project | date=1 Mar 2023 | url=https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/the-green-feather-movement/ | access-date=13 Jul 2023}}</ref> The FBI investigated even vaguely anti-capitalist films such as 1946's ''It's a Wonderful Life''.<ref>{{cite web | last=Nichols | first=John | title=That Time the FBI Scrutinized "It's a Wonderful Life" for Communist Messaging | website=The Nation | date=24 Dec 2021 | url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/fbi-red-scare-hollywood/ | access-date=13 Jul 2023}}</ref> But most of all, the US government and conservative labor organizers collaborated to root out communists, socialists, and "fellow travelers" from the American labor movement.

The impact of McCarthyism on American labor was devastating. In the early 20th century, radical leftists had been widely acknowledged as the most effective and motivated organizers in the labor movement.{{sfn|Lichtenstein|2002|pp=27; 45-46}}<ref>{{cite book | last=McAlevey | first=Jane F. | title=No Shortcuts | publisher=Oxford University Press, USA | date=2018 | isbn=978-0-19-086865-9|pp=27–40 passim}} See also section on influence of anti-communist organizer Saul Alinsky: pp. 40-58 and throughout the work.</ref> Anti-communist organizer John L. Lewis of the United Mine Workers hired communist organizers only to purge them once they had won the campaign, infamously stating, "Who gets the bird, the hunter or the dog?"{{sfn|McAlevey|2018|p=32}} Perhaps more important, communists were also responsible for furthering the workers' [[class consciousness]] through agitation and education. The McCarthyist elimination of communist "influence" in the unions they themselves had helped to build thus could have contributed to the weakness of the working class during the era of [[embedded liberalism]]: by the 1960s, red-baiting and union purging led to an atmosphere of accommodation that had denatured the ideological character of the American labor movement into "a fight without ideologies, without red flags, without May Day parades."<ref>{{cite book | last=Lipset | first=Seymour Martin | title=Political Man: The social bases of politics | publisher=Doubleday and Company | publication-place=New York | year=1960 | oclc=1024685999|p=408}}</ref> This would eventually soften the ground for the arrival of [[neoliberalism|neoliberal]] ideology once disillusionment with radical unionism and the ideologically neutered "Big Labor" had set in.<ref>{{cite book | last=Lichtenstein | first=Nelson |edition=1| title=State of the Union | publisher=Princeton University Press | date=2002 | chapter=Chapter 4: Erosion of the Union Idea}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Red-baiting]]
* [[Fascism in the United States]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Anti-communism]][[Category:Neo-fascism]][[Category:United States of America]]