The Cold War at Home Chapter 12, Section 4

Worrying About Communists at Home ● Red Scare: fear that communists were out to destroy America o lasted longer and went wider than the 1920s Red Scare o Truman’s Attorney General, J. Howard McGrath, warned that communists “are everywhere - in factories, offices, butcher stores, on street corners, and private businesses. And each carries in himself the death of our society.”

● Strong fear that communists were in high government positions o some were spies for the Soviet Union, but a majority were loyal to America o Truman created the Federal Employee Loyalty Program (1947) that gave the FBI and other government security agencies to screen federal employees for political disloyalty.  made a list of “totalitarian, fascist, or subversive organizations” ● members often singled out for more intense scrutiny

● Smith Act (1940): banned teaching or advocating the violent overthrow of the U.S. government ● House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) (1938): created to investigate possible subversive activities by fascists, Nazis, or communists o After WWII, conducted several highly publicized investigations in the government, armed forces, education, unions and other aspects of American life.

(1949) ● What is the cartoonist’s attitude toward the attempt to uncover communists? ● How might President Truman respond to this cartoon?

● Best known HUAC hearing targeted the movie industry (1947) o Hollywood Ten: group of left-wing writers, directors, and producers refused to answer questions, asserting their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination o hearings turned vicious when witnesses screamed at each other and pointed accusatory fingers o blacklist: list of persons not to hire because of suspected ties to communism

UAC

● Many Americans lost their jobs because they either belonged or contributed to organizations on the Attorney General’s list ● Even Oppenheimer, whose wife and brother were tied to communism, was investigated

Spy Cases Worry Americans ● Two cases o Alger Hiss: government worker accused of spying for the Soviets by an ex-communist  denied all accusations but Richard Nixon, a member of Congress, convinced the committee to press the case  convicted of perjury and sentenced to five years

o Julius and Ethel Rosenberg: charged with conspiring to pass secret information about nuclear science to Soviet agents  controversial - relied on the confession of one spy  claimed they were being persecuted because they were Jewish  Both were convicted and sentenced to death; executed by the electric chair in 1953

McCarthy Uses Ruthless Tactics ● Joseph McCarthy: Senator who accused several government officials of being communist ( ) o “claimed” he had a list of communists o McCarthyism: extreme, reckless charges o became very powerful and attacked ruthlessly, including larger targets including the U.S. Army  televised the hearings in which millions of Americans witnessed the bullying tactics, which lost a lot of his support