McCarthyism – Sharing History

In the 40s and 50s, the United States was embroiled in the tension of the Cold War. Anti-communist sentiment was high, and Senator Joseph McCarthy and his lackeys were on the hunt for communist sympathizers. The U.S. government felt pressured to make a strong stand against communism, and it was, perhaps, this need that led to the dramatic execution of two American-born spies in 1953.

Julius Rosenberg met Ethel Greenglass in the late 1930s. They were married in 1939 and became members of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA). After Julius graduated with his engineering degree, he got a job with the U.S. Army Signal Corps. It is believed that it was at this time that the two began sending military secrets to the Soviet Union. In following years, Julius would head a ring of spies, including Ethel’s brother, David Greenglass. Greenglass was a machinist on the Manhattan Project, and thus in a great position to trade in information about U.S. nuclear weapons and research. This worked well for them for several years, until 1945, when Julius was discharged from the U.S. Army because of his membership in the Communist party.

In the summer of 1950, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and David Greenglass were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit espionage. The Rosenbergs’ trials were widely publicized and hugely controversial. Part of the controversy lay in the fact that the U.S. case against the Rosenbergs was based solely on first-hand evidence presented by one witness: Ethel’s brother, David Greenglass. He agreed to turn against his sister and brother-in-law in exchange for leniency for himself and his wife. Critics argued that Greenglass’s motivation to trump up the charges against the Rosenbergs to save himself and the mother of his children was too personal for him to be a reliable witness. Others suggested that the judge was pressured to make a drastic decision on the case because of the U.S. need to appear tough on communism, especially in the case of Ethel Rosenberg, whose connection to the spy ring was tenuous at best. In any case, the Rosenbergs were sentenced to execution by electric shock. The two died together at Sing Sing Prison on June 19, 1953. Greenglass was given 15 years in prison, and his wife was not charged.

Years later, in an interview with a Times reporter, David Greenglass admitted that some of the allegations he hurled at his sister during her trial may not have been correct. He said, “My wife is more important to me than my sister. . . O.K.? And she was the mother of my children.”

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On February 9, 1950, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy stood before the Ohio County Republican Women’s Club at McClure Hotel in Wheeling, Ohio, and leveled an accusation at the federal government that led to five years of pointed fingers, paranoia, and ruined careers.

McCarthy began his speech by asserting: “Today we are engaged in a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity. The modern champions of communism have selected this as the time. And, ladies and gentlemen, the chips are down—they are truly down.” He went on to say, “The reason why we find ourselves in a position of impotency is not because our only powerful potential enemy has sent men to invade our shores, but rather because of the traitorous actions of those who have been treated so well by this Nation . . . This is glaringly true in the State Department . . . In my opinion the State Department, which is one of the most important government departments, is thoroughly infested with Communists . . . While I cannot take the time to name all of the men in the State Department who have been named as members of the Communist Party and members of a spy ring, I have here in my hand a list of 205 that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who, nevertheless, are still working and shaping the policy . . .”

Though his hunt for communists in the federal government made him a controversial character, he was reelected to his seat in 1952 and made the Chair of the Committee on Government Operations. He used this position to investigate hundreds of government employees and their suspected ties to communism. In 1954, he even went so far as to have some of these investigations televised. These were referred to as the “McCarthy Hearings.” During these, McCarthy accused the U.S. Army of employing communists and committing espionage. It was this that finally ended McCarthy’s rampage. Upon accusing U.S. Army lawyer Joseph Welch of hiring communist attorneys, Welch responded, “Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness . . . Have you no sense of decency?” Upon the airing of this exchange, McCarthy’s support vanished. He was censured by the Senate and died a few years later, in 1957.

History now refers to this period of time as “The Second Red Scare,” (the first taking place in 1917) when McCarthy’s antics caused a surge of paranoia among Americans that caused neighbors and friends to turn against each other. Those who were accused had their lives and careers ruined. To this day, the term “McCarthyism” is used to describe accusations without evidence and unfair methods of investigation.

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American Spies

The Second Red Scare