The Cold War at Home

1. The Cold War at Home

2. The Cold War at Home • With the Great Depression – tens of thousands of Americans joined the Communist Party. • After FDR’s Works Projects and WWII – most quit the Party.

3. 1950s – The NEW Red Scare • Fears of conspiracy. • China fell to the Communists in 1949. • Were the Communists going to try to overthrow the American government?

4. Commie Spies in the US? • Ethel and Julius Rosenberg • 1950 • American Communists • Accused of passing atomic bomb secrets to the Soviets • Executed 1953 • Only civilians in the 20th century executed for espionage.

5. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg • Did they do it? • Historical debate: • They were spies. • Julius more than Ethel • But did they get the bomb secrets? • Unlikely. • Did they deserve death? • ????

6. Other spies: Alger Hiss • Former State Department official • Accused by an editor for TIME magazine of being a Communist. • Had been a Communist in the 1930s. • Was he a spy as accused? • Unlikely – but not clear

7. Alger Hiss Tragedy • Alger Hiss had the right to be a Communist Party member. • His civil rights were violated in the pursuit of finding Communists. • Spent 4 years in prison and a lifetime in disgrace. • 1904 - 1996

8. Public Reaction to Hiss / Rosenbergs? • The Loyalty Program • HUAC • The Hollywood Ten • McCarran-Walter Act

9. The Loyalty Program • Truman created in 1947 • Background checks on all federal workers done by FBI • Anyone with “questionable” activities were accused of disloyalty

10. The Loyalty Program • Those accused were sent in front of the Loyalty Review Board. • Violated rights of privacy and freedom to associate. • Considered guilty until proven innocent.

11. The Loyalty Program • Millions were investigated. • Few hundred removed from jobs. • Added to the climate of suspicion in the nation.

12. HUAC • House Un-American Activities Committee • Congressional committee to find Communists. • Focused more on Hollywood.

13. Hollywood in the 1950s • A number of actors had been Communists in the 1930s. • The US govt. had encouraged films that were pro-Soviet during WWII. • Now they were out for the actors / writers / directors of “un-American” shows.

14. The Hollywood Ten • Celebrities accused of having “radical” politics. • Witnesses against the actors / directors / writers used flimsy evidence and rumors. • Then they would call the accused.

15. The Hollywood Ten • “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” • An illegal question! • When some tried to answer – they were denied the right to respond. • Not responding – cited for contempt of Congress.

16. The Blacklist • Anyone with associations with the Hollywood Ten were afraid of being called Communist. • Backed off on films dealing with racism and anti-Semitism.

17. The McCarran-Walter Act • Senator McCarran thought all Communists were immigrants from Communist areas of the world. • Passed a law reestablishing the 1924 quotas on immigration. • Vetoed by Truman as “most Un-American law I’ve ever seen.” • Congress overrode his veto and made the law.

18. The McCarthy Era • “I hold in my hand a list of 205 people who were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who, nevertheless, are still working and shaping policy at the State Department.” • Senator Joe McCarthy (1950)

19. Joseph McCarthy • 1908 – 1957 • Only asked himself 2 questions for anything he did: • What do I want? • How do I get it?

20. Senator Joe McCarthy • 1950- Wisconsin senator in trouble for his upcoming re-election. • Needed an issue to keep people from looking at the lies about himself.

21. McCarthyism • Used innuendo and wild accusations against increasingly “big” targets. • The Army • Former General Marshall and then Secretary of State • Journalist Edward R. Murrow • President Eisenhower!

22. McCarthyism • Hundreds were accused. • Lost jobs, lost families, ruined reputations. • NO CHARGES WERE EVER FILED AGAINST ANYONE!

23. McCarthy’s Fall • 1954 • Accusations of trying to keep an assistant from being drafted. • Accusations of homosexuality. • Accusations against people that the public respected.

24. McCarthy’s Fall • 1954 – censured by the Senate. • Lost credibility and respect. • No power. • Died of alcoholism in 1957.

25. Rights of Americanism • The Right to criticize • The Right to hold unpopular beliefs • The Right to protest • The Right of independent thought. • Declaration of Conscience: Margaret Chase Smith

26. McCarthy’s heir: J. Edgar Hoover • Served 1924 - 1972 as director. • DON’T CONFUSE WITH PRESIDENT HERBERT HOOVER! • 1930s set up first crime lab and hunted famous bank robbers. • 1940s investigated treason and espionage. • 1950s - 1972 Sought communists & subversives.

27. Hoover’s FBI • Developed own ideas of Americanism. • Collected dirty laundry on politicians, judges, senators, presidents, etc. • Hunted communists, homosexuals, or anything un-American. • Civil Rights Protests

28. Cold War in the US • Hunt for Communists continued into the 1980s. • 1975 – government and the courts allowed for Declaration of Conscious