In the 1940s the courts, responding to lawsuits by the NAACP, began handing down decisions eventually leading to the end of segregation in America. 

In 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first nuclear bomb. 

These events, and others, helped to create an atmosphere of anxiety and fear among many Americans who viewed these developments as threats to our way of life.

In 1950, Joseph McCarthy, a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, took advantage of public unease to launch a crusade against communism. He exercised a powerful influence on our government and the American public. He frightened government officials by charging that communists existed in their departments. He suggested there were almost 60 communists in the State Department, although he never supplied a single name. He silenced the Senate with insults and intimidation. In early 1954, one national poll indicated that three out of five Americans supported his activities. 

Parallels exist between the McCarthy Era and Donald Trump’s presidency. Both men gained influence by stoking fears of an American culture under siege. McCarthy blamed communists. Trump blames immigrants and minorities. Both men pushed the myth that our economic system based on capitalism is endangered. McCarthy blamed communism. Trump and the Republicans view government-sponsored healthcare as the enemy by branding it socialism. Trump, like McCarthy before him, employs insults and lies to intimidate his critics. Trump’s tactics have effectively silenced Republicans in both the U.S. Senate and House.

My father, a college professor, along with some of his colleagues, spoke out against McCarthyism in the relatively isolated environment of a large university. I was not so lucky. As a child in public elementary school I was bullied by some classmates and called a communist — a young victim of McCarthy’s fear mongering. Today, Trump incites crowds with bogus fears of dangers to American culture from immigrants and minorities. His rhetoric has accelerated into acts of deadly violence. 

 Televised hearings in 1954 brought McCarthy’s downfall. His attack on the U.S. military led to overwhelming condemnation by the Senate as reflected in this famous quote, “Have you no shame?” Hopefully, televised testimony from patriotic Americans who have served our country as civil servants or in military service, or both, will hasten Trump’s downfall, as well.

Margery Abel

Franklin