Questions
Anti-communism and Senator McCarthy
Study Sources A to E and then answer the questions which follow.
Source A
Speech by Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy to the Women's Republican Club of West Virginia, 9 February 1950
The reason we find ourselves in a position of impotency is not because our only powerful potential enemy has sent men to invade our shores, but rather because of the traitorous actions of those who have been treated so well by this nation. The State Department is infested with communists; I have here in my hand a list of 205 - a list of names that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist party, and who are still nevertheless working and shaping policy.
Source: quoted in John A. Garraty, The American Nation (Harper & Row, 1979 edition)
Source B
Mike Hammer, the hero of Micky Spillane's novel One Lonely Night, first published in 1951
I killed more people tonight than I have fingers on my hands. I shot them in cold blood and enjoyed every minute of it. They were Commies ... red sons-of-bitches who should have died long ago.
Source C
Report by Democratic Senator Millard Tydings of his investigation into McCarthy's charges, July 1950
McCarthy's charges are a fraud and a hoax perpetrated on the American people and on the Senate of the United States. They represent the most dishonest campaign of half-truths and untruths in the history of the Republic.
Source: quoted in Samuel E. Morison, The Oxford History of the American People (Oxford University Press, 1965)
Source D
President Truman talking about the McCarran Act which Congress passed over his veto
The great bulk of them [terms of the Act] are not directed towards the real and present danger that exists from communism. Instead of striking blows at communism, they would strike blows at our own liberties and at our position in the forefront of those working for freedom in the world.
Source: quoted in Jack B. Watson, Success in Modern World History Since 1945 (John Murray, 1989)
Source E
Comments from an American historian, Samuel Eliot Morison, in 1965
The theory that there was a communist conspiracy would never have been so widely received but for the diabolical cunning of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin. Estimates of him and his objectives vary from pure white to deepest black. He was probably simply a plain rogue who wanted power to make Presidents and officials jump while he cracked the whip. In the opinion of many, he aimed at the Presidency. He was cruel and greedy and did nothing for the people of his native state. He was also one of the most colossal liars in our history.
Source: S.E. Morison, The Oxford History of the American People (Oxford University Press, 1965)
(a) From the evidence of the sources, what different motives may have been behind Senator McCarthy's actions?
(b) Which motive do you think was most important?
(c) Source E says that McCarthy was 'one of the most colossal liars in our history'. Explain why, if this is true, so many Americans seemed to believe him.
(d) From the evidence of the sources and Section 20.3, why did the American people eventually turn against McCarthy?
(e) What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of these sources for the historian?
