Joseph Mccarthy

          The 1950's became known as the period of Mccarthyism. It was similar to the Salem Witch Trial hysteria of 1692 in many ways. Government officials mostly from the democratic party were falsely accused of being communist. Several democrats lost their jobs. The war of Vietnam was partly to blame for this hysteria, but the man that caused it all was Joseph Mccarthy. Mccarthy, a republican member of the senate let his fear of not being reelected lead him to defend his position with lies that destroyed many people's careers and reputations, terrorized the American population and harmed the country as a whole.
           Joseph Mccarthy was born on a farm in Appleton, Wisconsin, on November 14, 1908 (www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk). Because of he had to begin working he had to leave school at the age of fourteen. Later in 1928 he returned to high school, and after the necessary qualifications he was able to attend Marquette University. He worked as a lawyer after he graduated from the university. He was not as successful as he had wished, so he had to play poker as a means of income. Mccarthy initially supported Franklin D. Rossevelt and his New Deal, but after he failed to become the democratic party candidate district attorney, he became a candidate of the republican party. Mccarthy shocked many with his dirty campaign. His success was based on lies and deceit.
            Even before he was elected to become republican circuit court judge, Mccarthy began to lie. He assured his position by falsely accusing his opponent Edgar Werner of being seventy-three when in reality Werner was sixty-six years old. When the United States became involved in the second world war Mccarthy left his circuit judge possition and joined the U.S. Marines. He lied about his level of of involvement in the war, and as a result was elected as republican candidate for the senate when he went up against Robert La Follette. Mccarthy attacked La Follette in such a way that La Follette committed suicide. In the 1950's Mccarthy was afraid that he was not going to be reelected, so he met with his closest advisers. A Roman Catholics priest came up with the idea that he should campaign against communist subversives working in the democratic administration. Many of his friends helped him in his deceit. Mccarthy accused about two hundred and five people of the West Virginia department of being part of the American communist party. Most of his lies did not even make sense because he kept talking them back and changing what he said. Mccarthy's accusations about communism during the unrest that the country was going through frightened many Americans.
              The united States of America is a democracy, and Americans love their rights. Communism threatens those rights and as a result the American people were terrorized and were ready to believe whatever they were told. The situation of the 1950's was in a way harming the country from the inside. Mccarthy's lies were like a disease that was spreading every where, and not one could stop it. Mccarthy's want for power and selfishness blinded him to the harm his was doing the country, or maybe he did want to harm the country, or he just didn't care.
               Greed can cause turmoil within a country. To think that one man was the cause of such a difficult situation in American history. The human population is too weak minded and let themselves to be guided by rotten men that only care about themselves. However, like everything else in this world the Mccarthyism period came to an end.

September 17, 2012
 http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmccarthy.htm#source