Preview

Mccarthy: The Incredibly Polarizing Figure Of Mccarthyism

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
79 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Mccarthy: The Incredibly Polarizing Figure Of Mccarthyism
McCarthyism is basically campaigns held against any communists or people simply accused of being communists. Those who were accused without any evidence lost their jobs and opportunities. According to Paul J. A., a writer for the Encyclopedia Britannica, McCarthy investigated the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency because he suspected there to be about 205 communists among them. This made him an “Incredibly polarizing figure” which meant he could manipulate and divide people with his position and popularity.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Kubrick’s choice to chose to film his movie in black-and-white creates a more serious tone and mood. A black-and-white film creates the effect of having a point that needs to be made across to the audience and exercises the concepts in the movie to be compared to reality. Evidently, this film about nuclear weaponry sends a political message about what can happen between the USSR and America. The black-and-white also enhances the seriousness of the mood and provides the relation of connecting this film to McCarthyism. Though people were filled with fear and paranoia, this film is the perfect satire to hoax people about political and military psychosis.…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    salem vs. marcath

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Stifled progress and individual expression. Facts McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence.…

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Joseph McCarthy was a former U.S Senator that created much controversy in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Around this time, a lot of Americans worried and feared about communism coming to United States. Joseph McCarthy took advantage of this and made a huge allegation that 250 of the U.S. government official were communist. McCarthy was able to make this claim without any evidence because people already feared the thought of communism being in America.For about 5 years, McCarthy claimed several athletes,actors, and even the military to be communist. A term called “Red Baiting” became popular for what McCarthy was doing, wrongfully accusing people of being communist. Even average Joes feared this because they could easily be accused by someone just…

    • 189 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    ­Relates to many issues at the time, the McCarthy era reflecting to the theocracy in…

    • 1777 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Joseph McCarthy was a U.S. Republican Senator for the U.S. State Department. In 1946 Joseph McCarthy, who was one of the youngest to run for office, was elected to the U.S State Department and was reelected in 1952. When he was reelected he had more power to integrate witness that they said was a blatant violation of their civil rights. Because of this act more than 2,000 government employees lost their job. McCarthy was a chair member of the Senate’s subcommittee. He took on various tasks but one that stood out the most was the investigation of the 205 communist members that he said were “working and shaping policy” in the U.S State Department. This was later known as the “Red Scare”. When McCarthy was reelected in 1952 he became the chairman of the Senate's Committee on Government Operations, where he worked as an anti-communist, investigating and question those who are suspected.…

    • 317 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Joseph McCarthy is alive and well in today's society, and has been for many centuries, under different names and different faces, but the idea has never changed. Fear, doubt, and uncertainty became the unspoken anthem for many political movements throughout America's history, though it wasn't until the 1950s that the movement claimed the iconic name and face that we associate with it now. Even though it can be proven fruitful in the long run, McCarthyism is a dangerous political tactic that completely bypasses the individuals' constitutional rights; dangerous because it ignores the individuals' right to privacy, and because it provides a powerful political weapon for politicians to use to make people wary and uncertain about a particular group…

    • 175 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    McCarthyism was a widespread social and cultural marvel that influenced all levels of society, and was the wellspring of a lot of verbal confrontation and struggle in the United States.…

    • 77 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Gene McCarthy was just another senator until he chose to run for president. When he choose to ran he inherited a network of activists put together throughout 1967 ready to do anything they could to dump Johnson. As a result, his campaign would change the course of American history. McCarthy 's campaign primarily challenged Johnson on his war and the military, something that had not been done by establishment politicians at that point. A little over three months after McCarthy announced his candidacy for his party 's nomination, Johnson, the incumbent president, announced he would not seek nor accept his party 's nomination for president. McCarthy continued his anti-war candidacy against opponent Robert F. Kennedy in the primaries until Kennedy 's death after the California primary. At the Democratic convention, Eugene McCarthy did not receive his party 's nomination, which went to the Vice President Hubert Humphrey who had not run in a single primary. Despite losing the Democratic nomination at the convention, McCarthy 's candidacy had a huge effect on the 1968 election and beyond. Eugene McCarthy never stood a chance of becoming president in 1968, but at the same time the minute he announced his campaign he mortally wounded one candidate, and an eventual candidate, Johnson and Humphrey.…

    • 2485 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mccarthyism In The 1950's

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the 1950’s as a result of the recent acceleration of the Cold War and the spread of communism ideology around the world, and a national neurosis concerning a communist invasion expanded, Senator Joseph McCarthy took advantage of this "Red Scare" to advance his interests. McCarthy was a Republican Senator for the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. McCarthy made claims that Soviet, Korean and Chinese communist spies occupied the federal administration. In February 1950 when McCarthy asserted in a speech given in Wheeling West Virginia that he had a file that listed of members of the Communist Party who the State Department employed. He chaired the House Committee known as the Un-American Activities. The Committee investigated thousands of people, who were thought to be Communist spies and sympathizers, this was later known as McCarthyism. No one was exempt from the wrath of McCarthy, many individuals who worked for the federal government, universities, film industry, and…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    McCarthyism Imagine, all of your acquaintances starting rumors of you being a spy against the United States of America, and soon, everyone believes it. This was the idea and understanding of McCarthyism, a way to label and outcast someone, to go against the government. Joseph McCarthy was a new age behind the idea of McCarthyism that provoked the government and was localized by the public. Joseph McCarthy’s early and adult life had a huge influence on his political life. His early life consisted of mostly family living.…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    McCarthyism

    • 274 Words
    • 1 Page

    McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. It also means "the practice of making unfair allegations or using unfair investigative techniques, especially in order to restrict dissent or political criticism." The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from 1950 to 1956 and characterized by heightened political repression against communists, as well as a fear campaign spreading paranoia of their influence on American institutions and espionage by Soviet agents. Originally coined to criticize the anti-communist pursuits of Republican U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, "McCarthyism" soon took on a broader meaning, describing the excesses of similar efforts. The term is also now used more generally to describe reckless, unsubstantiated accusations, as well as demagogic attacks on the character or patriotism of political adversaries.…

    • 274 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    McCarthyism not only destroyed the lives and careers of many Americans but also the innocent image of the country. Senator Joe McCarthy from Wisconsin was the same as any man. But when he cried Communism the world seemed to listen.<br><br>Following the Cold War between Russia and the United States there came many hardships, such as unemployment and high inflation. These hardships produced a restless society. The society then looked for something or someone to blame (Fried, 39). They found someone to blame. Communists. Throughout the country there was a witch hunt known as the Red Scare. A basic idea was formed: Communism was evil. Anyone who participated in such evil was considered illegitimate and were to be excluded from such things as sharing ideas, and jobs (Reeves, 136). This fear of Communism or anti-Communism as it was called could be described as a type of "virus." When all was calm in America the virus would fade, but the moment a crisis struck, the virus came back stronger than ever (Feuerlicht, 35). Communism was a threat not only for countries overseas but a threat for America and its people. It was a threat on the American way of life, a bruise on the phrase "the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." (Feuerlicht, 45) And McCarthy helped spread this fear.<br><br>McCarthy and his ways challenged the Bill of Rights. "When free speech or due process are denied to any individual everyone's rights are jeopardized. Today's oppressors may become tomorrow's accursed group." (Feuerlicht, 154) And nothing is guaranteed more than the destruction of America when the freedoms promised by the Bill of Rights are denied (Feuerlicht, 154). McCarthy installed a fear in the people. But people feared tremendously the loss of their jobs. They feared that their political afflictions would reflect on their job status (Reeves, 99). By trying to keep America from becoming a Communist nation, McCarthy and his followers turned the country into an anti - Communist…

    • 1592 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    McCarthyism, named after Joseph McCarthy was a period of intense anti-communism, which occurred in the United States from 1948 to about 1956. During this time the government of the United States persecuted the Communist party USA, its leadership, and many others suspected of being communists. The word McCarthyism now carries the suggestion of false, hysterical accusation and large scale attacks on a minority. This anticommunist crusade stumbled in 1954, when the hearings were televised allowing the press and public to view McCarthy 's bullying tactics. He suffered a backlash in public opinion, and was then, himself investigated and McCarthy faded from the spotlight overnight.…

    • 1394 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Babbitt And Mccarthyism

    • 194 Words
    • 1 Page

    Babbitt is typified by a mixture of conceit and anxiety based on not belonging to the pack. His pack is made up of other middle-class people and his life before his rebellion (when he takes up adultery and flirts with the idea of a ‘bohemian’ lifestyle) depends on appearing to be the same as his neighbors and acquaintances. The expectations of those in his milieu are tied to material possessions and income. They defend the capitalist society and see his divergence from this way of thinking as a threat. This narrow view is heavily satirized throughout the novel. The fear of socialism is, for example, inherent in Babbitt’s social realm and pre-dates McCarthyism.…

    • 194 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    McCarthyism is the invention of the anti-communist politics that arose around the early Cold War years. The Cold War renovated American politics in a way that exposed communism as a central part of political life. McCarthyism was believed to be an absurd reaction to the rise of the secular state and the total association was resentments produced by status concern. Senator Joseph McCarthy’s action brought forth McCarthyism and the notion of Anti-Communism. This paper will deliberate the difference…

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays