Many people have never heard of Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, a man who, for a period of time in the late 40s and early 50s, was likely the most powerful man in America. Playing on fears of Communism subsequent to WWII, Sen. McCarthy, through the use of “false news” as well as character assassination, destroyed many lives and careers, both within government and in other fields such as the movie industry. “Naming Names” became a national obsession whereby people turned on one another, pointing fingers at suspected Communists. Various congressional committees to include the House Committee on UnAmerican Actitives as well as the Senate committee headed by Sen. McCarthy intimidated witnesses, threatening them if they refused to name names. Those who refused often had careers destroyed.

McCarthy began by alleging in a speech in West Virginia to have in his pocket a list of known Communists working in the State Department. Despite many requests from news reporters and others, it appears that no such list existed yet that list became the foundation for several years of McCarthy pursuing alleged Communists. His attacks included not only local school teachers but high powered individuals such as Gen. George Marshall, TV reporter Edward R. Murrow, and even Lucille Ball (no, not because she had red hair!)

McCarthy was a demagogue who astutely discerned that a level of national fear could be his meal ticket to power. As with other demagogues, however, his arrogance got the best of him when he chose to attack the U.S. Army, suggesting the presence of Communists at Ft. Dix New Jersey. The resulting hearings were televised and gripped the nation. For the first time, Americans saw a man in action whom they previously applauded. McCarthy did not play well on television, coming across as a bully and at times seeming “out of it”. In a dramatic confrontation with attorney Joseph Welsh, McCarthy began to lose his power base. He eventually was censured by the Senate and died of likely alcoholism.

One of Sen. McCarthy’s legal assistants was a man named Roy Cohn. This same man, well-versed in McCarthy’s tactics, later became mentor to a business man interested in politics. That man was Donald Trump.

Why address this dark chapter at this time? We live in a time of great fear. Fear of immigrants. Racial fears. Fear of government. Fear of disease. Fear of war. The times have been ripe for the emergence of a politician who can capitalize on those fears and indeed several have been and are prominent on the political stage. Some have been elected to public office. Some of these elected politicians even claim to know how and why God is punishing us.

To learn more about McCarthyism, historical documents are available. Here is a critical moment in the Army-McCarthy hearings to include Joseph Welch’s famous challenge “Have you no sense of decency?”

Several biographies of Joseph McCarthy are available. Larry Tye’s Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Sen. Joe McCarthy is a recent one. The impact of McCarthyism in Hollywood is reflected in two classic movies. High Noon was written by Carl Foreman who, during his writing of the script, was called before HUAC and refused to name names. Like his character Will Cain, he faced intimidation alone, abandoned by many friends. Foreman was blacklisted in Hollywood for his refusal to name names. This scene from High Noon reflects Foreman facing HUAC — alone.

Contrasted with High Noon is On the Waterfront in which the main character Terry Malloy courageously speaks out against gang control of the docks in New York. The script is by Budd Schulberg and was directed by Elia Kazan, both of whom named names in the HUAC hearings. In this scene, we see a man testify against criminals, bravely naming names.

Why bother examining events and films from 70 years ago? During the McCarthyism era, conspiracies were alleged. People were judged and condemned because of sexual identity. False news was rampant. A public official used tactics of denial, lying, and bullying to get his way. We owe it to ourselves and to our country to pay attention to the lessons of the past.