Senator McCarthy
Words to generally summarize politics in the 1950's would be communism, spies, and McCarthyism. All the events that occurred in the fifties happened because of the Russians. They had infiltrated the US government and spied on people in hopes to steal government plans. Senator McCarthy was one of the few that stood up for Anti-communism. He revealed fifty-seven communists working in the government in his most famous speech on February 9th, 1950. He was considered a patriot or a hero to the American population for standing up against the communists in efforts to stop Anti-American plans.
McCarthy wanted to make the communists known to the public. So he televised the trials that degraded and humiliated the defendants. At first, the Americans praised him for doing these brave acts, but once everyone saw that he was ruining defendents lives’, they thought otherwise. McCarthy took it overboard when he tried to find everyone involved in communism, even if they were only the least bit involved. For example, he tried to find the people that wrote and spoke about communism during the Scottsboro case. People developed a word based on him called McCarthyism, which is defined on dictionary.com as, "the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, especially of pro-Communist activity, in many instances unsupported by proof or based on slight, doubtful, or irrelevant evidence". He was censored from the senate, and fell deeply into drinking. Joseph McCarthy died of hepatitis on May 2nd, 1957, when he was forty-nine.
Overall, the base of the United States politics revolved around communism in the 1950's. Senator McCarthy became a powerful figure because of his patriotism and fight for Anti-communism. Finally, he influenced the generation of the fifties by running pro-America and Anti-Communism campaigns. For that, the American people supported his brave acts, making him a political figure that had a large influence on society.
By: Zach
McCarthy wanted to make the communists known to the public. So he televised the trials that degraded and humiliated the defendants. At first, the Americans praised him for doing these brave acts, but once everyone saw that he was ruining defendents lives’, they thought otherwise. McCarthy took it overboard when he tried to find everyone involved in communism, even if they were only the least bit involved. For example, he tried to find the people that wrote and spoke about communism during the Scottsboro case. People developed a word based on him called McCarthyism, which is defined on dictionary.com as, "the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, especially of pro-Communist activity, in many instances unsupported by proof or based on slight, doubtful, or irrelevant evidence". He was censored from the senate, and fell deeply into drinking. Joseph McCarthy died of hepatitis on May 2nd, 1957, when he was forty-nine.
Overall, the base of the United States politics revolved around communism in the 1950's. Senator McCarthy became a powerful figure because of his patriotism and fight for Anti-communism. Finally, he influenced the generation of the fifties by running pro-America and Anti-Communism campaigns. For that, the American people supported his brave acts, making him a political figure that had a large influence on society.
By: Zach