McCarthy Legacy

12/02/04

BBULL

Length 7:48

Host:

50 years ago today (12/2/04), the U-S Senate censured Joseph McCarthy, for conduct unbecoming a senator. It dealt a stinging blow to his anti-Communist crusade, which he’d waged for nearly four years against suspected “Reds” in the government.

A half-century past his downfall, the Wisconsin native’s legacy is mostly forgotten or scorned. Most people equate the word “McCarthyism” with “witch hunt” or “smear attack”. But there are those who insist that the volatile senator was an American hero.

Brian Bull reports:

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In his prime, Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy was a firebrand, who channeled the Cold War angst many Americans had after World War Two.

McCarthyCut02: “One Communist on the faculty of one university, is one Communist too many……(cheers) [FADE UNDER NEXT TRAK] (:10)

By 1950, the Soviet Union had consumed eastern Europe, and tested its first atomic bomb. The war in Korea was going poorly, and China had fallen to Communist rule. Many feared America’s own rank and file was compromised, a concern McCarthy forged into a crusade:

McCarthyCut02 (cont): “And even, even if there were only one Communist in the State Department, even if there was only one Communist in the State Department, that’d still be one Communist too many!” (:12)

Contrary to popular belief, the Wisconsin senator never targeted Hollywood, but rather fixed his sights on the government. Despite foreign policies like the Truman Doctrine, which aided countries resisting Communism, McCarthy blamed the President and Democrats for Soviet expansion:

McCarthyCut01: “Now, why ladies and gentlemen, why has this administration deliberately built up Russia, while tearing down the strength of America? I have been proving that it was because of a combination. A combination of abysmal stupidity and treason.” (:18)

There was little subtlety in McCarthy’s attacks on Democrats, whom he called “soft” on the war on Communism. His stance helped the GOP gain control of Congress and also with getting Dwight Eisenhower elected President in 19-52.

At various times, McCarthy said anywhere from 57 to 205 Soviet agents were in sensitive government positions. He gained a reputation for browbeating suspects, to the delight of his backers. But others were repulsed by what they saw as a bullying mudslinger, who presented scant evidence for his claims.

During the Army-McCarthy hearings of 19-54, the U-S Army’s chief counsel, Joseph Welch, took McCarthy to task before millions of television viewers.

WelchCut01: “Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty, or your recklessness…..” [FADE UNDER] (:08)

The exchange centered on one of Welch’s colleagues, whom McCarthy had linked to a Communist group. Historians consider this the watershed of McCarthy’s Red-hunting campaign, a few months shy of his censure.

WelchCut02: “Let us not assassinate this lad any further, Senator.

McCarthy: “Lets, let’s……..

Welch: You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?” (:16)

If Welch’s confrontation derailed McCarthy, the censure of December 2nd, 19-54, devastated him. All the Senate’s Democrats and half from his own Republican party, approved the condemnation. McCarthy faded from the public eye. He died three years later in a Bethesda hospital. Records say he died of acute hepatitis, though its also speculated that complications from alcoholism killed him.

Ever the stalwart, McCarthy found redemption among his followers: [FADE UP MASS MUSIC]

RequiemMass: “It has been the purpose of the McCarthy Foundation, to keep alive the memory of this great man…….(:25ish with lead in music)

A 19-76 recording captures one of several requiem masses held in Milwaukee, which began shortly after the founding of the Joseph McCarthy Educational Foundation in the 60s. Father Hugh Wish -- now deceased -- conducted the service:

RequiemMass (cont): “……for the repose of his immortal soul…..to ask God to give him eternal rest and to encourage others by the great and wonderful example that Senator McCarthy left in defending our country…..” (:20)

Other tributes have been less grandiose. Beat generation poet Allen Ginsberg is said to have come to Appleton specifically to urinate on McCarthy’s grave near the Fox River. And for decades now, near the anniversary of his death in May, members of the Joseph McCarthy Educational Foundation turn out for a memorial service at his marker.

Father Cletus Healy’s performed the service for more than ten years. The 87-year old priest runs a Christian gift and book store in West Allis. [FADE UP GIFT STORE AMBI…..LOSE AFTER HEALY CUT]

Healy says he used to teach a high school course on the perils of Communism, and says McCarthy’s crusade against Soviet spies was noble.

CHealy01: “I think fundamentally that issue he was trying to alert the country about was a critical issue for the security of the nation. Russia was…stealing a lot of our information and sabotaging our policies. He deserves credit for it rather than animosity and smearing. ” (:20) [FADE OUT AMBI]

Earl Denny, secretary/treasurer of the McCarthy Educational Foundation, agrees.

EDenny01: “Liberals have kept the hate McCarthy attitude alive for years. I think McCarthy was a great historical figure, he was a great American, and I feel an asset to Wisconsin.” (:14)

Denny says the Foundation aims to place all of McCarthy’s writings into state universities and high schools, as well as install a permanent monument to him in Madison’s capitol building.

[ROLLING OF COASTER WHEELS, OPENING OF DOOR ]

What little memoriam already exists for McCarthy is kept here in the Outagamie Museum of Appleton. [CLACKING OF WHEELS ON TILE, STOPS.] Museum Curator Kim Louagie [loh-WAH-jay] wheels out a cart bearing a 250-pound bronze bust of McCarthy, which normally sits in a storage room facing the wall. It sat in the county courthouse for more than forty years.

KLouagie01: “The reason why he was in the courthouse was because he was a circuit court judge in the area. He’s really become a symbol of injustice rather than justice.” (:12)

Louagie says while McCarthy was eventually proven right about Communists in the U-S government, he was largely wrong about those he accused. This mixed legacy left Outagamie officials unsure what to do with the bust, until they donated it to the museum for its recent McCarthy exhibit. Louagie says even today, “Senator Joe” remains a polarizing figure:

KLouagie02: “You either supported McCarthy or you didn’t. No in between”. (:05)

JPodair01: “How do you respond to this man? It was a moral crucible for all involved, except for McCarthy.” (:06)

Jerald Podair is an associate professor of history at Lawrence University in Appleton. He says by the time of McCarthy’s censure, many elected officials of both parties were weary of the Senator’s blistering attacks and accusations. He says President Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon saw him more as a liability than an asset:

JPodair02: “McCarthy was a bully, a brass-knuckle bully. And I think what McCarthy did was, he made the legitimate cause of anti-communism illegitimate”. (:10)

Geoffrey Stone, a law professor at the University of Chicago, adds McCarthy’s fervor only added to people’s Cold War anxiety. He says citizens knew that being accused of even knowing a Communist could ruin their lives:

GStone01: “And that created a rampant fear about ever signing a petition, ever expressing a public point of view, ever marching in a demonstration, ever participating in a political event that was anything other than absolute, rock-hard mainstream.” (:16)

Stone says many issues from the Red Scare have come back in post 9-11 America. He says as many people were called unpatriotic for challenging McCarthy’s tactics, so too have many Americans had their loyalty questioned for criticizing aspects of the war on terrorism, like the Patriot Act and the detainment of potential terrorists:

GStone02: “There were intonations by remarks of the President, certainly by Attorney General John Ashcroft, that somehow not being on board with the United States was to be with the terrorists. That’s a dangerous mindset in democracy, because it confuses dissent with disloyalty.” (:16)

[FADE UP MCCARTHY CLIP]

McCarthyCut03: “…..I don’t think you yourself, would ever knowingly aid the Communist cause. I think you’re unknowingly aiding it when you try to burlesque this hearing in which you’re attempting to bring out the facts….” [FADE UNDER] (:25)

It’s said that history is “argument without end”. If McCarthy’s foes charge he was a demagogue who abused his powers, then his supporters retort that he was a patriot, slandered by the media. The debate may be rekindled again after Hollywood begins production next year on a new movie. The film will depict the confrontations between Senator McCarthy and broadcaster Edward R. Murrow.

Brian Bull, Wisconsin Public Radio.