McCarthyism

One of the most honored and strongest personalities in the entire history of United States of America is Joseph McCarthy. He joined the politics of America at such a time it was faced with controversies and very high degree of backwardness. This was a time when the evils of Soviet communism with their anti-freedom ideology were taking roots in the American soil. Despite the victimization and threats because of his staunch stand against communism and its evils, McCarthy never retracted from his journey of freedom and democracy. He was specially a strong believer in capitalism and true democracy.

The fight for freedom and the journey to democracy by McCarthy intensified when he went through to the house of senates in the year 1946. This was a time when the era of communism was almost being muted. This was because, during the World War II, US was hand in hand with the Soviet Union (McCarthy 31). These were strong supporters of communism, and they took the situation to their selfish advantage to bury the revolt against communism in the United States. There was a lot of fear that if allowed to take charge, communism would have very negative repercussions on the people of America. Therefore, the government was fast to establish policies, which could aid in the eradication of communism.

For instance in 1947, President Dwight Eisenhower who had taken office in the previous year saw some loyalty reviews passed. It was established that all federal employees in the United States had to go through some form of royalty review in order to work in the country. The main objective of this directive was to ensure that the citizens adhered to the principles and proper norms of democracy.

During his time in office, McCarthy used all means possible to ensure that all communists, especially those working for the state department were made public and brought to book. McCarthy on the attack of government officials who were communists declared that, “coexistence with Communists is neither possible nor honorable nor desirable.” He declared that, the eradication of communism should form the main objective of the U.S. government (McCarthy 102).

He stood out among all the other senators and went on exposing the many anti- American missions who worked undercover and were in line with the US government (McCarthy 47). Schrecker (24) quotes McCarthy’s wheeling speech “The State Department is filled with communists.” McCarthy produces a list of 205 names, which the Secretary of State was informed about as being members of the Communist Party. However, these members were actively working and shaping the State Department.

The most known cases by McCarthy were the investigations he made and the many speeches he let out about the whole story of communism and democracy. He was really a widespread personality on both cultural and social effects that ran throughout the societies. He also attracted a great deal of conflict and debate in the entire United States of America. McCarthy mainly strengthened the established anti-communist committees, the loyalty review boards and the many panels that were established (McCarthy 52). These mainly carried out his investigations for the large institutions or companies to find out the possibility of communists in their workforce and bring them to book thereof.

McCarthy carried on his tireless mission of seeking the truth and exposing the perpetrators of communism in America until the mid 1950s. During this time, the institutions and missions of McCarthy started to weaken slowly. This can be mainly attributed to the series of court decisions made against him and also the changing public views and sentiments on his role. The offense against McCarthy had now grown, and many senators advocated for his downfall. The American icon and hero faced a hit in his life and carrier in 1954 when he was censored by the US senate, which was the start of his downfall (Donaldson 63).

McCarthy will always be an American icon who is so much respected in the American history. His achievements and sincere love for his country will for ever be a source of inspiration to people allover the world not to trade in their freedom or democracy, does not matter the situation or political conditions prevailing at that time.

It was out of the past lessons on terrorism that the US Government took the initiative to pass the “Patriot Act” on October 2001, which aimed to reduce restrictions on law enforcement agencies to carry out their functions when situation calls for such measures (Donaldson 76). This was a positive directive; dangerous and desperate situations call for immediate and desperate measures.

 It is the right of every US citizen to enjoy his or her rights and freedoms at all times. However, in some situations they should take the initiative of being rational and responsive citizens. Terrorism threats should be taken seriously; the safety and life of every US citizen should come first. Therefore, there might be the need to compromise a little on the bill of rights. However, this does not call for misuse of power or torture on citizens in any given manner.

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