Did McCarthy Have An Impact? Flashcards
Yes
1 political standing
He was a senator and had influential standing
Used the media-William Randolph Hurst supported him and used his position to spread the message
Republicans made gains in congress in 1946
Yes
2 influence in government
3,000 federal employees forced to resign and 300 sacked under Exec Order 9835 (no actual subversion uncovered)
The spread of state anti-subversion laws (39 by 1952)
Hundreds lost their jobs due to blacklists and the HUAC
Only left HAWKS in government who would pursue hard core measures in diplomacy in regards to Russia (lead to Vietnam war?)
Yes
3 Hollywood Ten
10 Hollywood film industry people publicly denounced the tactics employed by the HUAC.
They received jail sentences (1947 cited for the contempt of congress) and were banned from working for the major studios
Edward Dmytrijk was imprisoned but later provided the names for 20 “communists”
Increased anxiety
No
1 HUAC
HUAC had a bad reputation for being too intrusive into the lives of US citizens
HUAC’s chairman John Rankin was likened to a Nazi
No
2 other influences on Red Scare
The trial of Hiss was completed by the time of McCarthy’s prominence and the aftermath of the trial has died down
The Hiss verdict, soviet bomb and China’s fall to communism created made hysteria
No
3 Downfall of McCarthy
McCarthy tried to claim there was disloyalty in the army and in the CIA but this was a step too far-the republicans began to distance themselves from him
HUAC
House Un-American Activities Committee
Created in 1938 in order to uncover citizens with communist or nazi ties in the US
Alger Hiss
Accused of being a communist by Whittaker Chambers
Chambers later accused him of espionage
The trial got attention because he was an ex UN official
Was convicted of perjury in 1950
Maintained he was innocent
