Joseph Mccarthy And The Red Scare

Hysteria, pandemonium, chaos, words that attempt to describe the state of America during the horrific period known to history as the "Red Scare". A coup of power in American life was recently completed in Senator Joseph McCarthy's rise to national attention as "judge, jury, prosecutor, castigator, and press agent, all in one." (Army-McCarthy Hearings) The Wisconsin Republican Senator was successfully trampling the State Department and other federal agencies, filling each day's headlines with new accusations of Communists inside American society. Perhaps the biggest change in communication, the television, was just now coming into trend. Notably successful in spreading both news and hysteria, it would prove to be crucial during McCarthy's
Welch was nothing short of remarkable, as with great poise he rose up in indignation and ridiculed the Senator. (Oshinsky, 240) He concluded his rebuttal with the now immortalized lines, "Have you no sense of decency sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?" The effects were catastrophic for McCarthy, as he dumbly continued to rant on unaware to his own demise which every other viewing American had just witnessed. The rotten attack had certainly back fired onto the Senator, and effectively destroyed millions of American's faith in his works As the hearings were called to an early conclusion, Welch was encircled in a massive surge of reporters and camera men, quickly to become known as the man who had stood up against and ousted McCarthy. (United States Government Printing Office) A meeting with President Eisenhower followed in which congratulations were given on a job indeed well done. (Joseph
How could a perceivably meek and largely unknown Boston lawyer up root and heave the mighty McCarthy out of his undisputable throne and into the gutter? The confrontation of the two bold men was not merely an act of coincidence but a carefully calculated and perhaps well "acted" role played out by Mr. Welch. Much debate has arisen on the topic of Welch's usage of "acting" in his dialogue with McCarthy. Despite if Welch's performance had indeed been a sham, its effects were certainly premeditated and well executed. (Morgan, 351)
The cleverness of Welch along with his more extensive knowledge of television's power, allowed him to ensnare and belittle the once unstoppable Senator. Regardless of his intentions, Welch's mixture of emotion, being noted with tears streaming upon his exit of the Senate room, and cleverness proved to be the kryptonite to McCarthy's invincibility. Though the Army-McCarthy hearings reached no technical conclusions, it was evident that McCarthy was the big loser. (Cohen, 105) Welch had successfully symbolized McCarthy as the hatred for all who fear the exposure of communism. (Cohen,