Joseph McCarthy
Red Scare demagogue
Joseph McCarthy was a U.S.
Senator from Wisconsin whose aggressive pursuit of alleged communists in government during the early 1950s gave rise to the term McCarthyism.
His televised hearings and reckless accusations ruined careers and created a climate of fear, though many of his charges were never substantiated.
The Senate eventually censured him in 1954.
His name now evokes politically motivated witch hunts and guilt by association.
The candidate accused his opponents of McCarthy-style tactics.
Record of prohibited entities
- HUACRed Scare congressional committee
- loyalty oathsRequired statements affirming devotion
- Red ScareAnti-communist hysteria period
- RosenbergGerman surname, flower-hill
subversion · un-American · purge · sedition · espionage · fellow traveler · fifth column · card-carrying
Deliberately spreading exaggerated threats
- smear campaignOrganized defamation effort
- witch-huntPersecution of supposed subversives
- scapegoatingUnfairly assigning fault to innocents
- innuendoOblique disparaging remark
slander · defamation · vilification · accusation · paranoia · hysteria · intimidation · sensationalism
Midwestern dairy state
- RepublicanGOP party member
- CongressU.S. lawmaking body
- SenateLegislative body, often bicameral's elder
- politicianElected government official
legislator · investigations · hearings · caucus · election · reelection · constituent · capitol
Prolonged East-West standoff
- containmentPreventing hostile expansion
- iron curtainDivider of forged metal
- BolshevismLenin's revolutionary communist ideology
- MarxismClass-based revolutionary philosophy
Soviet · Kremlin · domino theory · free world · patriotism · Americanism · propaganda · ideological
blacklist
Record of prohibited entities
- HUACRed Scare congressional committee
- loyalty oathsRequired statements affirming devotion
- Red ScareAnti-communist hysteria period
Rosenberg · subversion · un-American · purge · sedition · espionage · fellow traveler · fifth column · card-carrying · pink
fearmongering
Deliberately spreading exaggerated threats
- smear campaignOrganized defamation effort
- witch-huntPersecution of supposed subversives
- scapegoatingUnfairly assigning fault to innocents
innuendo · slander · defamation · vilification · accusation · paranoia · hysteria · intimidation · sensationalism · manipulation
Wisconsin
Midwestern dairy state
- RepublicanGOP party member
- CongressU.S. lawmaking body
- SenateLegislative body, often bicameral's elder
politician · legislator · investigations · hearings · caucus · election · reelection · constituent · capitol · government
Cold War
Prolonged East-West standoff
- containmentPreventing hostile expansion
- iron curtainDivider of forged metal
- BolshevismLenin's revolutionary communist ideology
Marxism · Soviet · Kremlin · domino theory · free world · patriotism · Americanism · propaganda · ideological · subversive
- Anti-Communistsdefectors, dissidents, counterrevolutionaries, freedom fighters, J. Edgar Hoover
- DemagoguesAdolf Hitler, Hitler, George Wallace, Benito Mussolini, Mussolini
Joseph McCarthyEdward R. Murrow
ACLU · Thurgood Marshall · Earl Warren · Arthur Miller · Pete Seeger
Joseph McCarthyVoltaire
French Enlightenment satirist
John Stuart Mill · pluralist · tolerant · open-minded · Pete Seeger