Program Information

With the nation gripped by cold war panic, Senator Joseph McCarthy enflamed passions with accusations of treason.

A Moment in Time is a brief, exciting and compelling journey into the past. Created to excite and enlighten the public about the past, its relevance to the present and its impact on the future, A Moment In Time is a captivating historical narrative that is currently broadcast worldwide.

Transcript

Lead: With the nation gripped by cold war panic, Senator Joseph McCarthy enflamed passions with accusations of treason.

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: Searching for an issue that would define his bid for a second term in the U.S. Senate, McCarthy settled on Communism and trumpeted charges that traitorous Communists lurked in major national institutions of learning and government. It was not difficult to arouse national fear in those years. Americans were weary of the Korean Conflict; concerned about Marxist expansion in Europe and Asia; alarmed by the disgrace of Alger Hiss, a former State Department official proven to have had a shadowy career as a Soviet agent; and frightened by the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenburg, convicted and executed as spies for Russia. McCarthy began in February 1950 in a speech before the Republican Women of Wheeling, West Virginia. The State Department harbored 205 communist infiltrators, he said, but in subsequent Senate testimony he could not substantiate a single charge. Nevertheless, the headlines that followed his speech awakened an army of followers who supported his campaign of innuendo, accusation and charge. The name "McCarthyism" began to be attached to his tactics. A word from him was enough to ruin countless careers and his endorsement became a coveted prize among politicians of both parties. In March 1954 he spoke to the Chicago Irish Fellowship Club warning them of the traitors among us:

"Traitors are not gentlemen, my good friends. They don't understand being treated like gentlemen. I don't give a tinker's damn how high or how low people in either the Republican or the Democrat party--either party--are unhappy about our methods. This fight is going to go on as long as I am in the United States Senate."

Next time: McCarthy meets his match.

At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts.

Virginia Standards