McCarthyism - Zaina, Delaney, Brady, M, Mary by Zaina Atique

Joseph McCarthy

atiquez — 2024-03-27 13:12:27 UTC

Lucille Ball (DW)

whalende — 2024-03-28 12:25:53 UTC

The HUAC investigated Lucille Ball for her assumed communist activities (1952-1953) She had multiple witnesses report that she took part in Communist actions and the material proof was also shown. Multiple evidence shows documents, interviews, radio shows, etc.

During her confrontational interviews from the HUAC, Ball repeatedly denied her affiliation or support with the Communist party and had reasoning to back things up. The FBI eventually made a statement for BALL claiming that she was in no way or shape a part of the communist party or sympathized with them in any manner. Lucille Ball was let off the hook after a long and tedious process and continued her acting career.

J. Robert Oppenheimer

2024-04-01 12:17:40 UTC

Oppenheimer was a prominent physicist who is best known for his role as the scientific director of the Manhattan Project (effort to develop the first nuclear weapons in WW2). His association with the development of the atomic bombs made him a significant figure in the era. Despite his contributions to the war effort, he became a target of suspicion due to his past associations with left-wing groups and his opposition to H-bomb development. This led to his security clearance being revoked in 1954 after a very publicized hearing. His case highlighted the intense anti-communist sentiment of the era and the impact it had on individuals who were perceived as left leaning or having sympathies.

Harry Dexter White

atiquez — 2024-04-01 12:21:42 UTC

A senior U.S. Treasury department official.

Helped set American financial policy toward the Allies of WWII

Key figure in the creation of the Bretton Woods system and International Monetary Fund.

Was accused of espionage by passing information to the Soviet Union in 1948 - he denied this claim. He was not apart of the Communist party, however he had frequent contact with Soviet officials as part of his duties at Treasury, - this matter is still a historical debate.

J. Edgar Hoover was the director of the FBI during the time when White was accused of espionage. The FBI investigated White.

Because of Joseph McCarthy's influence as well as being known for his anti-communist activities, it influenced the political climate during White's time. McCarthy and White may have not been directly connected but McCarthy still had an impact on White's live as well as a lot of other Americans accused of espionage.

J. Edgar Hoover

atiquez — 2024-04-01 12:22:04 UTC

Joseph Welch

bulakowskib — 2024-04-01 12:23:03 UTC

Joseph Welch was an American lawyer who serves as the chief counsel for the United States while under communist surveillance. This was known as the Army-McCarthy hearings. Joseph Welch was going against McCarthy and stated how he had a list of 130 Communist active in America. Welch has been seen as an idol as this case went on since most people had their opinions about McCarthy but no one was brave enough to call him out or accuse him because of the fear he has installed into us. This connects to Joseph McCarthy since Welchs whole connection to the case was how he went against McCarthy in court eventually finding him guilty eradicating him from office.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

2024-04-01 12:26:47 UTC

Eisenhower, the 34th President of the US, played a significant role during the McCarthy era. He faced the challenge of addressing anti-communist outlooks and the impact of McCarthyism on American society. While he was personally critical of McCarthy's tactics, he was cautious in confronting him, instead working behind the scenes to diminish the senator's influence. Eisenhower's approach was to limit McCarthy's power and influence within the Republican party, eventually leading his condemnation by the Senate in 54. Eisenhower's presidency marked a transition period away from intense anti-communist hysteria, and his actions contributed to the eventual decline of McCarthyism as a dominant force in American politics.

Elizabeth Bentley

atiquez — 2024-04-01 12:29:41 UTC

American NKVD spymaster, recrutied from within the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). Active in 1935.

She served the Soviet Union as their primary handler of the moles they placed within the US Federal Government and Office of Strategic Services.

She gave up her alliance by contacting FBI and exposing her espionage activities.

She was paid by the FBI for her assistance in the counterespionage investigation and her testimony.

She exposed 2 spy networks and ultimately accused more than 80 American citizens of both treason and espionage with a foreign power.

She implicated that White was a Soviet Agent during her testimony, along with Alger Hiss, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

SPIES

atiquez — 2024-04-01 12:32:18 UTC

Army/McCarthy Hearings

atiquez — 2024-04-01 12:34:04 UTC

The Manhattan Project

2024-04-01 12:40:29 UTC

This project was a massive, top-secret research and development project during World War II that was aimed at producing the world's first nuclear weapons. It was a collaborative effort involving the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, with the goal of harnessing the power of nuclear fission to create a devastating new weapon. The project was initiated in response to fears that Nazi Germany might be developing its own atomic weapons. Under the leadership of Oppenheimer, the project brought together some of the world's leading scientists, including physicists, chemists, and engineers, who worked tirelessly to overcome immense technical challenges and develop the necessary technology. The culmination of the Manhattan Project was the successful testing and deployment of two atomic bombs, which were dropped on the Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 45. These bombings had a profound and devastating impact, leading to Japan's surrender and the end of World War II. It marked a turning point in human history, ushering in the nuclear age and fundamentally altering the nature of warfare and international relations.

Julius Rosenberg

2024-04-01 12:42:53 UTC

Klaus Fuchs

bulakowskib — 2024-04-01 12:43:17 UTC

Klaus Fuchs was a German theoretical physicist who was also a spy. He supplied information from America, Britain, and Canada. He was responsible for many theoretical calculations leading to the first Nuclear weapon to be made. This is connected to the great fear since "Communists were everywhere," and America has got overtaken by spies. The great fear is also known as McCarthyism making us be on the lookout for the "red" enemy.

Harry Truman

bulakowskib — 2024-04-01 12:45:15 UTC

Harry Truman was the 33rd president of the United States serving 10 years and the 34th vice president serving under Franklin Roosevelt. Truman was president while the cold war took place, as well as being involved with the invasion of North Korea. What Truman was also known for was the way he made some of the most crucial decisions in history. He had worked with Oppenheimer in the creation of the Atomic Bomb putting his idea out there for all. One of these decisions was ordering for Atomic Bombs to be dropped on cities resulting in 2 Atomic Bombs to be dropped on Japan. Truman didn't have a direct connection with McCarthy but affected the future of the country and the decisions we made as a whole.

Joseph McCarthy

bulakowskib — 2024-04-01 12:46:24 UTC

Joseph McCarthy was an American politician who served as a senator in the state of Wisconsin until his death at age 48. McCarthy had put the idea in our heads that Communists and Soviet spies had infiltrated the United States Government, Universities, and Film industries. McCarthy has put dishonesty into the system making us seem to turn on each other, but also help us be more aware. He was soon seen as right that we did have Communist spies but also had the way to abuse his power with accusations that were wrong. McCarthy has never caught a single spy despite having made these accusations.

Spies

2024-04-01 12:47:25 UTC

Julius Rosenberg's association with spies is rooted in the accusation that he and his wife were part of a Soviet spy ring operating in the United States during the early years of the Cold War. Spies refer to individuals who were allegedly engaged in covert activities aimed at obtaining and passing sensitive military and technological information to a foreign power, in this case, the Soviet Union. The espionage activities attributed to Julius Rosenberg were particularly significant due to the nature of the information involved. The passing of classified details related to the Manhattan Project, the U.S. effort to develop atomic weapons, underscored the gravity of the accusations against the Rosenbergs. The atomic secrets were considered of utmost importance to national security, and their alleged transfer to a foreign power raised profound concerns about the potential impact on the balance of power and global security.

Edward R. Murrow

atiquez — 2024-04-01 12:47:29 UTC

American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. Gained recognition during WWII with his series of live radio broadcasts from Europe for the news division of CBS.

Worked closely with a team of war correspondents now known as the Murrow Boys.

One of his most famous works was the CBS documentary series "See It Now," which aired in 1951. This series tackled important social and political issues of the time, including McCarthyism and the persecution of alleged communists during the Red Scare. Murrow is best remembered for his confrontation with Joseph McCarthy. On "See It Now" in 1954, Murrow presented a critical analysis of McCarthy's anti-communist crusade, using McCarthy's own words and footage to challenge his methods and tactics. This led and contributed to McCarthy's downfall.

Ted Hall

atiquez — 2024-04-01 12:52:50 UTC

A physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project, the top-secret U.S. government project during World War II that developed the atomic bomb.

He later admitted he spied for the Soviet Union during his time working on the Manhattan Project. His activities as a Soviet spy wasn't revealed until 1990's during the fall of the Soviet Union. He confessed in 1997.

Walt Disney

atiquez — 2024-04-01 12:54:01 UTC

An FBI informant for HUAC. In 1947, Walt Disney testified before HUAC and accused several of his employees, who were part of the Screen Cartoonists Guild, of being communist sympathizers or members. His testimony contributed to the broader atmosphere of suspicion and led to the blacklisting of several individuals in the entertainment industry

HUAC

atiquez — 2024-04-01 13:25:44 UTC

Alger Hiss

atiquez — 2024-04-01 13:26:15 UTC

Richard Nixon (DW)

whalende — 2024-04-01 16:25:36 UTC

Richard Nixon joined in with the support of McCarthyism to gain attention and an audience for standing with something the government was highly regulating (AKA: a highly controversial topic) During the running period, he was against a women trying to go into power and he made the statement, "she's pink all the way to her underwear" which completely brought her down political wise and a new meaning was brought to life. By that comment he meant that she's not a registered communist but she has some views like communists do. This began the term, "Pinko" which referred to anyone who was sorta a communist but again, not registered or card carrying. It was used in attempt to exploit their fear of communism and gain more people to go against it.

Dalton Trumbo (DW)

whalende — 2024-04-01 22:57:14 UTC

Dalton Trumbo was a communist apart of the 'Hollywood 10' - a group that went against McCarthyism by writing a speech and denouncing it. Before he came to be part of the group, in the 1930s Trumbo began to write professionally (being in magazines and articles, etc) During his career, Trumbo received multiple letters from Nazi sympathizers who misunderstood his intentions in, "Johnny Got The Gun" and he reported it to the FBI for his safety. This led to a investigation done on him. He eventually got blacklisted because he refused to tesify for McCarthyism and him and other members of the 'Hollywood 10' served almost a year in prison (1950).

Hollywood 10

whalende — 2024-04-01 22:57:54 UTC

J. Edgar Hoover (DW)

whalende — 2024-04-01 23:21:57 UTC

He was the director of the FBI from 1924 to 1972. During his time at the FBI, he was a team player and not a solo antagonist as many painted him out to be. However, he was good at his job and worked to gain respect and the things he wanted. His willing pragmatism was able to keep his extreme tactics (at times) under control. He was very focused on mid-century issues and was consistently going against specific groups that were frowned upon during the period.

When McCarthy came into the FBI claiming there were communists, Hoover started to go against him since he felt he had loose claims for communists, and the tactics he practiced were something he disagreed with that would help genuinely find communists. Eisenhower then helped him take down McCarthy and he was praised for his work during this time.

David Greenglass (DW)

whalende — 2024-04-01 23:32:21 UTC

Brother to Ethel Rosenburg, and brother-in-law to Julius Rosenburg, he was the one who snitched on them and caused their electrocution (for assuming to be communist spies, in which Ethel wasn't and Rosenburg was) More accurately, he set them up to be caught. He testified that they both gave information to the Soviet Union about how to make the atomic bomb and that they enabled communist spies to kill thousands of U.S soldiers in the Korean War. He didn't want to be suspected or made the scapegoat so instead he chose to rat out his sister and brother-in-law.

Ronald Reagan (DW)

whalende — 2024-04-01 23:49:45 UTC

Ronald Reagan started working for the FBI for non-communist reasons, he was 32 and was going against Nazis and the comments people would make about Jewish people.

Most of Ronald Reagan's work was public and available to anyone, which was beneficial and detrimental to him. It was beneficial since he was trustworthy as a political figure and detrimental since he became marked as a major target for the assumption of supporting the communist party.

Army McCarthy Hearings

mcdonaldm35 — 2024-04-03 12:10:36 UTC

These were hearings that were shown on television and were done by the United States Subcommittee on Investigations. The hearings began on March 16, 1954, they received a great deal of press coverage as well as live television coverage from April 22nd - June 17th, 1954. The Subcommittiee on Investigations investigated the accusations between the United States Army and US Senator Joseph McCarthy. The US Army accused Senator McCarthy and his chief counsel Roy Cohn of pressuring the Army to give preferential treatment to Private G. David Schine. G. David Schine was a former aide to Senator McCarthy and a friend of Roy Cohn’s. The Army’s accusations stated that McCarthy and others were seeking a direct appointment of Private G. David Schine, a chief consultant to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

Hollywood Ten

mcdonaldm35 — 2024-04-03 12:12:13 UTC

The Hollywood Ten was a group of ten members of the movie industry in 1947. The Hollywood Ten as they became known as had refused to answer the House Un-American Activities Committee on whether they were a communist or not. They were subpoenaed to appear in October and would not testify. They were held in contempt which included a criminal charge. This resulted in a highly publicized trial and conviction. The congressional action made a group of studio bosses fire the Hollywood Ten and swear they would not employ them. The entire group was placed on the Hollywood Blacklist. This meant they could no longer work in the entertainment industry. The same studio bosses also put into progress oaths of loyalty from their employees with the threat of otherwise being blacklisted. Many people’s lives were damaged by this, even if they had no connection to any communist party

Roy Cohn

mcdonaldm35 — 2024-04-03 12:12:45 UTC

Roy Cohn was an American attorney and prosecutor who became famous for being Senator Joseph McCarthy’s chief attorney during the Army-McCarthy hearings that took place in 1954, assisting Senator McCarthy’s investigations on communisn. He was involved as counsel for a lot of famous cases; before being chief counsel for Senator McCarthy he was chief counsel in 1951 for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who were tried for being Russian spies. Subsequent years he was counsel for people such as Donald Trump during his younger early years, George Steinbrenner owner of the New York Yankees, Aristotle Onasis a Greek shipping tycoon, and alleged mobster bosses Tony Salerno, Carmine Galante, and John Gotti.

Robert F. Kennedy

mcdonaldm35 — 2024-04-03 12:13:12 UTC

Robert F. Kennedy held many different positions during his career, he was a lawyer at the Justice Department and resigned to manage John F. Kennedy - his brother’s campaign for the US Senate in 1952. One of his first jobs was in 1953, he was an Assistant Counsel to the Senate Committee chaired by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Senator McCarthy was friends with Robert Kennedy’s father and this is how he was appointed to this position. Senator McCarthy had vacationed with the Kennedy family and also dated two of Robert Kenndy’s sisters. Robert was a young lawyer and wanted the chance to work on Senator McCarthy’s Permanent Subcommitte on Investigations that examined possible communists, and people who were communists trying to get into US Government positions to steal information and share it with the Soviet Government. Robert Kennedy only worked for Senator McCarthy for six months. He did not get along or agree with Roy Cohn who was a rude young deputy attorney that worked for McCarthy. Robert Kennedy also made a name for himself as Chief Counsel of the Senate Labor Rackets Committee in 1957 to 1959. He then resigned to run his brother’s successful presidential campaign of 1960, later being appointed as Attorney General of the United States at the age of only 35, he was one of the youngest cabinet members in American history. On June 6th, 1968 Robert F. Kennedy was assisinated during his campaign to run for president of the United States.

Julius Rosenberg

mcdonaldm35 — 2024-04-03 12:13:38 UTC

Julius Rosenberg was an electrical engineer in New York City. He joined the US Army Signal Corps as a civilian engineer. He was married to Ethel Rosenberg in 1939 and they both became members of the Communist party. He became a Soviet spy in 1942. He gave over numerous classified documents to the Soviets. He recruited others to spy for the Soviet Union as well, one of the most key recruits was his brother in law David Greenglass. David Greenglass was a member of the Special Engineer Detachment at Los Alamos. David handed over details about the Manhattan project to Julius Rosenberg. This information consisted of details about the high explosive lenses that were being worked on for the implosion bomb. Julius Rosenberg had numerous engineering jobs as he was fired from the Signa Corps when it was found out he had been a member of the Communist party. He then co-founded an engineering firm with his brother in law David Greenglass. When the atomic spy ring started to become well known and fall apart in 1950, arrests were made. David Greenglass implicated Julius Rosenberg. He was arrested on July 17, 1950; Ethel, his wife, was arrested a month later. Julius was convicted along with Ethel on March 29, 1951 and was sentenced to death. They appealed their convictions and kept saying they were innocent. They were executed on June 19, 1953 at Sing Sing prison in New York. Some say the trial and execution of the Rosenbergs contributed a lot of controversary then and in the present day. More evidence was later found out and did confirm that Julius was a Soviet agent.

Ethel Rosenberg

mcdonaldm35 — 2024-04-03 12:14:04 UTC

Ethel Greenglass met Julius Rosenberg in 1936 in New York City. They married three years later when she was 24 and he was 21, they had two sons and both were members of the Communist Party. After Julius was arrested for espionage Ethel was arrested a month later. Everyone says that Ethel knew what her husband was doing, passing information and documents to the Soviets, but some say that Ethel did not actually do anything and was being charged just to put pressure on her husband to confess and disclose information on other American spies. Ethel knowing what Julius was doing and not doing anything about it made her guilty of conspiracy of espionage. It was Ethel’s brother David Greenglass that turned in Julius and Ethel and even testified against his sister. Ethel was found guilty and sentenced to death along with Julius. The execution was on June 19th, 1953 in New York at Sing Sing prison.

Alger Hiss

mcdonaldm35 — 2024-04-03 12:14:23 UTC

In 1948 Alger Hiss was accused of having spied for Russia - The Soviet Union in the 1930s. Alger Hiss was an American government official, he had attended Harvard and was one of the most brilliant law students in his class. He was picked to serve as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and then worked in the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. He could not be tried for spying as the expiration had already passed for the statute of limitations for espionage. Alger Hiss was convicted of two counts of perjury that tied into the espionage charge in 1950. He had lied about passing government documents. He was sentenced to five years in prison on January 21, 1950.