In the early 1950s, Joseph McCarthy, a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, made a name for himself by alleging that members of the Communist Party were working in the U.S. State Department. His allegations soon extended to university faculty, Hollywood filmmakers and members of labor unions.
The search for Communist sympathizers in business and political life predated McCarthy, but McCarthy’s name became forever associated with attacks, often unsubstantiated, on character and patriotism.
Organizations like the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America spoke out against McCarthy and his fellow Congressmen.
Political leaders including former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and President Harry Truman publicly voiced their concerns about McCarthyism. Truman called McCarthy “a pathological character assassin.” Roosevelt criticized McCarthy for making “a great mass of people blindly afraid.”
See the Austin App papers at UW’s American Heritage Center to learn more about McCarthyism.
For more information, visit the American Heritage Center site.