yr13_ia_2007_kirby_d


 * __What was the historical significance of the career of Senator MacArthy?__**

Upon seeing the investigations of the ‘house of un-American activities’ I was incredulous at the nature of the questions being asked. It seemed appalling to me that a nation that supposedly held the beacon of democracy and freedom could go to this extreme out of fear for an unknown political ideology. It seemed that the notion of a free trial and the right to political views was being disregarded and that a person was being punished simply for believing in principles different to that of the government. Of course this historical event is still very relevant today. We have a tendency to forget just quite how easy it can be to utilize fear of external forces for personal gain, and in the process to disregard personal freedoms. Recently there have been calls by the politically right press to ‘bring back’ elements of the witch hunt apparatus [1] and claims that McCarthy was in fact doing his country a great service.
 * Historical Relevance:**

The causes of the McCarthy witch hunts are varied, there were a variety of sectors of American Society that were so vulnerable to his attacks because of a naivety and ignorance that does no favours to the general image of society and specifically the political right.
 * Causes of the witch-hunt**


 * Ideologically** the differences between the United States and the USSR were supposedly vast, the USSR was abusing its position as a world power and setting up puppet governments in Eastern Europe by the means of show trials and a pretence of democracy which was in fact paper thin - the government was in power because of its ability to terrorize it opponents by the means of force. American society on the other hand based itself upon the defence of personal liberties, freedom from oppression and democracy. None of which are demonstrated during the period of McCarthyism.


 * Economically** the US was booming, the post war period was typically one of hope and expectation. American power financially and militarily had seemed endless until the true confrontation with communism had started; American forces in Korea were meeting with massive resistance and there was a worrying crumble of democracy in Eastern Europe. Communism was essentially an unknown to the American people. It had been demonized since the end of the 1st World War and had long been differentiated from being a simple ideology. This fear was compounded by the fact that no party wished to be associated with anything related to communism or socialism.

This left a bed of ignorance and naivety as to the true nature of communism which was the consequence of both political parties attempting to alienate a foreign enemy. As general rhetoric the use of communism as political ammunition had long been a practice of more conservative politicians when referring to liberal reforms such as child labor laws and women's suffrage as "Communist" or "Red plots." In general, the vaguely defined danger of "Communist influence" was a more common theme in the rhetoric of anti-Communist politicians than was espionage or any other specific activity. It was not truly used to its full political ‘potential’ until Senator McCarthy, after deliberating a way to extend his period in the Senate with friends, decided upon anti-communism as a worthy target[2]. The personal reasons of McCarthy are quite simple: he was a driven man with every desire to achieve notoriety and fame with his own career, which had, for want of an aim, been quite barren thus far in the Senate.
 * Conclusion**

On the second of December 1954 a censure motion condemned McCarthy’s conduct by 67 votes to 22. This censuring of Senator McCarthy signalled the end of a long battle by politicians prepared to confront him and elements of the media who were prepared to risk their own jobs in order to put a stop to his attacks upon the democratic process. The ‘Louisville Courier-Journal’ for one reported that: "In this long, degrading travesty of the democratic process, McCarthy has shown himself to be evil and unmatched in malice". Interestingly the attacks that finally brought McCarthy to a halt were often of the same personal nature of those he made himself, for example in one article Greenspun wrote that: "It is common talk among homosexuals in Milwaukee who rendezvous in the White Horse Inn that Senator Joe McCarthy has often engaged in homosexual activities". McCarthy never refuted these claims in court but they have never been seen as particularly credulous by his biographers, regardless they influenced his ability to be taken seriously, as did his alcoholism (interestingly sexual deviancy and alcoholism were both criteria for being upon McCarthy’s infamous list of 205). It soon became evident that McCarthy was a deeply unhappy and unlikeable man. Edward Hart (a lawyer who worked with Joseph McCarthy) “I always felt that Joe lived in a different moral universe. He asked himself only two questions: What do I want and how do I get it.”
 * Effects of the Witch Hunt**

The effect upon liberal media and the Democratic Party was significant, no longer afraid (to the same extent) to profess to socialist views. To be liberal was no longer the same insult it had been. As such the demise of McCarthy saw a general leaning towards the left for American politics. The role of the media in McCarthy’s demise (and rise) was so influential that it led to a general awareness as to the immense power that the media held and consequentially a more independent and critical press and later television.


 * //Causes of witch Hunt? <)======= NEW TITLE??//**

Post WWI hysteria 2nd world war deportations
 * When did anti-communist hysteria exist before?**

Describe two politicians with similar appearances in terms of their approach but who were different because one did it from morals and one did it for ammunition, not McCarthy
 * Was the Anti-communist attack an attempt to reveal communist infiltration or was it political ammunition?**

It started before him (paragraph 1), other people were involved (paragraph 2), expand upon paragraph 2 then go on to ask whether or not he was a scapegoat once it all went tits up.
 * Was 'McCarthyism' a product of senator McCarthy or is he just the man who epitomized it?**

Justify 'assumption' then talk about american patriotism being owned by the right. An issue of a society too easily feared. Lead to conclusion wherein i say that McCarthy was not to blame.
 * Assuming that the witch hunt was an abbomination to human rights and democratic principles, why was it allowed to happen?**

[1] http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34415 [2] http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmccarthy.htm