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McCarthyism, also known as the Second Red Scare, was the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage in the United States during the late 1940s through the 1950s. [1]
In 1940, soon after World War II began in Europe, the U.S. Congress legislated the Alien Registration Act (also known as the Smith Act, 18 USC § 2385) making it a crime to "knowingly or willfully advocate, abet, advise or teach the duty, necessity, desirability or propriety of overthrowing the Government of the United States or of any State by ...
McCarthyism was a period of intense anti-Communist suspicion in the United States that lasted roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s. Although associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy, it was a broad cultural and political phenomenon that also encompassed industry blacklists, the activities of the House Un-American Activities Committee, and more.
The national press called the general strike "Marxian" and "a revolutionary movement aimed at existing government". [12] "It is only a middling step", said the Chicago Tribune, "from Petrograd to Seattle." [13] As early as February 8 some unions began to return to work at the urging of their leaders.
He founded the Education and Research Institute. He was the president of the Philadelphia Society, [30] a member of the Council for National Policy, sat on the advisory board of Young Americans for Freedom, and was a trustee of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI). [31] He was an advisor to the National Tax Limitation Committee. [32]
McCarthy also began investigations into homosexuals working in the foreign policy bureaucracy, who were considered prime candidates for blackmail by the Soviets. [87] These accusations received wide publicity, increased his approval rating, and gained him a powerful national following.
Some on the Right thought that McCarthyism could be explained as a rational reaction to communism. Others thought McCarthyism should be explained as part of the Republican Party's political strategy. Critics on the Left denied that McCarthyism could be interpreted as a mass movement and rejected the comparison with 19th-century populism.
It contributed to and paralleled the anti-communist campaign which is known as McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare. [1] Gay men and lesbians were said to be national security risks and communist sympathizers, which led to the call to remove them from state employment. [2]