The Rise of Joseph McCarthy — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00in the midst of the cold war as
2. 0:01communism was on the rise and growing
3. 0:03across the world
4. 0:04fear and paranoia swept across much of
5. 0:07america
6. 0:07and onto that stage exploded a nobody
7. 0:10senator from wisconsin
8. 0:12spewing wild baseless and incredulous
9. 0:14accusations
10. 0:15that the american government was riddled
11. 0:17with communist traitors at the highest
12. 0:19levels
13. 0:20in the climate of fear that he helped
14. 0:22orchestrate
15. 0:23thousands of innocent lives were ruined
16. 0:25essential liberties were tarnished and
17. 0:27sacrificed
18. 0:28and even two presidents feared to cross
19. 0:30the man
20. 0:31whose name would forever scar this dark
21. 0:34era in american history
22. 0:35mccarthyism after years of witch-hunts
23. 0:38he would finally be exposed by the power
24. 0:41of television
25. 0:42bringing about his swift downfall but
26. 0:44how could such a phony and a fraud gain
27. 0:46such popularity and power
28. 0:48in a country that cherishes freedom and
29. 0:50individualism
30. 0:51well that's just the treasure we're out
31. 0:53to discover i'm dan luer and this
32. 0:55is history for humans
33. 0:59[Music]
34. 1:05in the 1920s after the first world war
35. 1:08america experienced its first red scare
36. 1:10red being synonymous with communism but
37. 1:13not to be outdone
38. 1:14after the second world war there was a
39. 1:16second red scare
40. 1:17and like most sequels it was much worse
41. 1:19than the original the red scare simply
42. 1:21describes the time
43. 1:23when there was a heightened fear of
44. 1:25communism throughout the country
45. 1:27that led to a loss of civil liberties
46. 1:29and joseph mccarthy was the senator and
47. 1:32savior that millions of americans
48. 1:34believed was going to drive out all the
49. 1:36communists and the traitors
50. 1:38who were assumed to be lurking
51. 1:40throughout our government
52. 1:41joseph mccarthy grew up poor and tough
53. 1:44on a farm in wisconsin
54. 1:45he was also a veteran of the war and
55. 1:47rose in politics to be the youngest
56. 1:49member of the senate
57. 1:50when he was elected in 1946 in wisconsin
58. 1:54but his first few years in the senate
59. 1:56were marked by
60. 1:57well how unremarkable they were he
61. 1:59didn't accomplish much of anything and
62. 2:01didn't draw much attention
63. 2:03except for some senate colleagues who
64. 2:05realized he had a tendency to lie and
65. 2:07exaggerate for his own benefit
66. 2:10foreshadowing though known to spin yarn
67. 2:13about all sorts of things
68. 2:14he played especially fast and loose with
69. 2:17his war record his nickname
70. 2:18tail gunner joe stemmed from one of his
71. 2:21most courageous
72. 2:22and honorable exploits during the war
73. 2:24wanting to prove his medal he set off
74. 2:26with a pilot daring to make a name for
75. 2:28himself
76. 2:29on this one mission he set the record
77. 2:31for the most ammunition
78. 2:32fired on a single flight during the war
79. 2:35and despite there being no japanese
80. 2:37forces anywhere to be found
81. 2:39he fired wildly and excitedly into the
82. 2:42blue sea and torched coconut trees
83. 2:44down to the stump after breaking the
84. 2:46record he got the publicity the nickname
85. 2:49and it was enough to seem a war hero
86. 2:52shredding coconut trees like
87. 2:53nobody's business but as the red scare
88. 2:55was taking hold of the country
89. 2:57mccarthy realized he could once again
90. 2:59play the part of the hero
91. 3:00and become the most vigilant and valiant
92. 3:03red hunter in the country
93. 3:04but lest we go any further our
94. 3:06exploration question for today's story
95. 3:08lecture is
96. 3:09how did mccarthyism impact america
97. 3:11during the cold war
98. 3:12and what eventually led to his downfall
99. 3:15but to answer that i'm gonna have to ask
100. 3:16you to take your umbrellas out because i
101. 3:18got some history to reign upon you first
102. 3:21there were actually legitimate reasons
103. 3:23that led to a sense of fear that
104. 3:25pervaded the country
105. 3:26communism was in many ways on the rise
106. 3:29across the world
107. 3:30and america seemed to be falling behind
108. 3:32in the cold war
109. 3:33causing a lot of self-doubt and nervous
110. 3:35reflection
111. 3:36in 1949 the soviets tested their first
112. 3:39atomic bomb
113. 3:40years ahead of what was projected and
114. 3:43america no longer had a monopoly on this
115. 3:45weapon
116. 3:46at the same time stalin was tightening
117. 3:48his control
118. 3:49over eastern europe and that same year
119. 3:51the communists under mao zedong
120. 3:54took control of china and these
121. 3:55developments swung momentum in the cold
122. 3:58war in favor of team red
123. 4:00adding to the paranoia was the
124. 4:01realization that there were
125. 4:03active communists and soviet spies
126. 4:05operating at some of the highest levels
127. 4:07of america's government
128. 4:08and in national defense and the news
129. 4:11came quick again in 1949
130. 4:13alger hiss a former state department
131. 4:15official who helped to create the united
132. 4:17nations
133. 4:18was accused of being a soviet spy one
134. 4:21week later klaus fuchs who had top
135. 4:23secret national security clearance
136. 4:25was accused of handing over nuclear
137. 4:27secrets to aid the soviets in the
138. 4:29development of their bomb
139. 4:30and later he admitted to this and
140. 4:32implicated others as well
141. 4:35so to combat the cold war on the home
142. 4:37front the government sprung into action
143. 4:39the house of un-american activities
144. 4:41committee a committee whose name
145. 4:43i can't help bring up sounds so very
146. 4:45un-american was created to investigate
147. 4:47alleged disloyal and subversive
148. 4:49activities and a different young red
149. 4:51hunter who grew to fame during these
150. 4:53investigations
151. 4:54was richard nixon who led the
152. 4:56investigation into alger hiss
153. 4:58hiss was found guilty of lying to
154. 5:00congress and was discovered to be a
155. 5:02communist
156. 5:02but it was never really known in fact if
157. 5:04he was a spy the house of under american
158. 5:06activities committee became
159. 5:08most famous for its investigations into
160. 5:10hollywood and the entertainment industry
161. 5:12hundreds were subpoenaed and faced
162. 5:14intimidated hearings
163. 5:15where they were grilled and expected to
164. 5:17either name the names of potential
165. 5:19communists
166. 5:20that they knew in the industry or repent
167. 5:23and admit to any previous involvement
168. 5:25with the communist party
169. 5:27if they refused they had their careers
170. 5:29ruined and their reputations tarnished
171. 5:32most became friendly witnesses like
172. 5:34ronald reagan walt disney and gary
173. 5:36cooper but
174. 5:37some refused to participate in what they
175. 5:39saw as a witch hunt that was trampling
176. 5:41on the constitution
177. 5:42and americans freedoms especially the
178. 5:44first and fifth amendments
179. 5:46the hollywood ten a group of writers
180. 5:49directors and producers
181. 5:50refused to cooperate defending their
182. 5:53rights and
183. 5:54all were cited for contempt of congress
184. 5:56and sentenced to prison terms
185. 5:58and then were blacklisted and could no
186. 6:00longer work in the industry
187. 6:02and even though he was a friendly
188. 6:03cooperating witness a young ronald
189. 6:05reagan
190. 6:06spoke out against efforts to sacrifice
191. 6:08our values
192. 6:09in the fight against communism he stated
193. 6:12we have spent 170 years in this country
194. 6:15on the basis that democracy is strong
195. 6:17enough to stand
196. 6:18up and fight against the inroads of any
197. 6:21ideology
198. 6:22sir i detest i abhor their philosophy
199. 6:25but at the same time i never as a
200. 6:27citizen want to see our country become
201. 6:30urged by either fear or resentment of
202. 6:32this group that we ever compromise with
203. 6:35any of our democratic principles
204. 6:37i still think that democracy can do it
205. 6:40reagan gave an early warning against the
206. 6:42irony of shedding our own freedoms
207. 6:44in order to protect those very freedoms
208. 6:47but reagan's warnings
209. 6:48landed on deaf ears democratic president
210. 6:51harry truman created a loyalty board
211. 6:54to find potential communists throughout
212. 6:56the federal government
213. 6:57the loyalty board investigated more than
214. 7:003 million federal employees to ensure
215. 7:02loyalty to america and the constitution
216. 7:04however
217. 7:05reasonable doubts alone forget evidence
218. 7:08of due process
219. 7:09was enough to be dismissed or forced
220. 7:11into resigning
221. 7:12but the most high profile anti-red case
222. 7:14was the trial of julius and ethel
223. 7:16rosenberg
224. 7:17julius was a former government engineer
225. 7:19who was found guilty of being a soviet
226. 7:22spy
227. 7:22and handing them over top secrets that
228. 7:24helped them develop their atomic bomb
229. 7:26and then both were sentenced to death by
230. 7:29execution many americans as you can
231. 7:31rightly imagine
232. 7:32believe that if communist spies could
233. 7:34infiltrate the most secure and important
234. 7:36levels of national security
235. 7:38surely they were everywhere and to save
236. 7:40the country mccarthy hoped to establish
237. 7:42himself as a valiant knight
238. 7:44though he was really more of a demagogue
239. 7:46don quixote to battle against communism
240. 7:48and would slay any constitutional
241. 7:50provision that got in his way
242. 7:53one speech would propel mccarthy onto
243. 7:55the national stage
244. 7:56speaking at the republican women's club
245. 7:58in wheeling west virginia on february 9
246. 8:011950 mccarthy asserted that there were
247. 8:03communists throughout the government
248. 8:05and that he possessed a list of 205 card
249. 8:08carrying communists at the state
250. 8:10department
251. 8:11finally proof to the fears that so many
252. 8:13americans had
253. 8:14mccarthy became a national sensation and
254. 8:16a new leader within the republican party
255. 8:18problem was his numbers kept changing
256. 8:21and when asked to provide the list
257. 8:23it went from 205 to 57 to 81
258. 8:26and never in fact provided any names or
259. 8:29evidence
260. 8:30undeterred he later stated even if
261. 8:32there's one communist in the state
262. 8:33department that would still be one
263. 8:35communist too many
264. 8:36it was rather a fast backtrack from 205
265. 8:39to
266. 8:40a theoretical one but that mattered
267. 8:42little just as he did as a tail gunner
268. 8:44he realized he need not actually hit any
269. 8:47targets to become a hero
270. 8:49by making enough noise and firing shots
271. 8:51aimlessly
272. 8:52he could still grab media attention and
273. 8:55appear to be the hero
274. 8:56mccarthy continuously attacked the
275. 8:58democratic party
276. 8:59for being soft on communism general
277. 9:02marshall the war hero and the man behind
278. 9:04the marshall plan
279. 9:05that successfully rebuilt europe and
280. 9:08prevented the spread of communism there
281. 9:10was accused of losing china and being
282. 9:12sympathetic towards communists people
283. 9:15who dared stand up and criticize
284. 9:16mccarthy for his shrieking defamations
285. 9:19well that was evidence of their treason
286. 9:21and their sympathies with communists
287. 9:23most politicians even colleagues who
288. 9:25knew the man to be a pathological liar
289. 9:28were stoned
290. 9:29silent however a fellow republican
291. 9:31freshman senator from maine
292. 9:33margaret chase smith who grew
293. 9:35increasingly appalled that no senior
294. 9:36members of the senate
295. 9:37spoke out against mccarthy's dangerous
296. 9:40diatribes
297. 9:41decided she needed to break the silence
298. 9:43dressing the president and the nation
299. 9:45she said of mccarthy it is a national
300. 9:48feeling of fear and frustration that
301. 9:50could result in national suicide
302. 9:52and the end of everything we americans
303. 9:54hold dear
304. 9:55those of us who shout the loudest about
305. 9:57americanism
306. 9:58in making character assassinations are
307. 10:01all too frequently those
308. 10:02who by our own words and acts ignore
309. 10:06some of the basic
310. 10:07principles of americanism the right to
311. 10:09criticize the right to hold on popular
312. 10:11beliefs the right to protest
313. 10:13the right of independent thought but it
314. 10:16did little to silence or stop mccarthy
315. 10:18instead he was rewarded and appointed
316. 10:21chairman of the senate committee on
317. 10:22government operations
318. 10:24increasing his national spotlight
319. 10:26hundreds were subpoenaed and called in
320. 10:28to testify before his committees
321. 10:30for being potential communists lurking
322. 10:32in the shadows
323. 10:33and as his power increased so too did
324. 10:36his recklessness
325. 10:37taking on larger and larger targets
326. 10:39until finally
327. 10:40in the biggest tv event in history at
328. 10:42the time
329. 10:43he would be revealed for the fraud and
330. 10:45tyrants he was
331. 10:48in his highly publicized probes mccarthy
332. 10:50had already gone after the state
333. 10:52department the white house the treasury
334. 10:53and the cia
335. 10:55and now he was set to take on the u.s
336. 10:57army
337. 10:58it was early 1954 mccarthy was at the
338. 11:00peak of his power
339. 11:02when the mccarthy army hearings became a
340. 11:04television sensation
341. 11:06the drama of the hearings and television
342. 11:07broadcast reached their peak
343. 11:09when the army's lawyer joseph welsh
344. 11:12demanded that mccarthy and his committee
345. 11:14staff
346. 11:15hand over his secret list of alleged
347. 11:17communist spies in the army
348. 11:19by now you might well be able to guess
349. 11:20what mccarthy did next
350. 11:22he accused one of welsh's assistant
351. 11:24attorneys for being
352. 11:25you guessed it a communist to which
353. 11:28welsh calmly but emphatically fired back
354. 11:30until this moment senator i think i
355. 11:33never really gauged your recklessness or
356. 11:35your cruelty
357. 11:37and the hearing room burst with applause
358. 11:39and then finally welsh asked
359. 11:41have you no sense of decency sir at long
360. 11:44last seeing his cruelty and recklessness
361. 11:47on tv
362. 11:48millions of americans had finally had
363. 11:50enough and saw the man for who he was
364. 11:52about time after four long years of
365. 11:55basil's accusations
366. 11:56doctored fabricated and hearsay evidence
367. 11:59that
368. 11:59never unearthed a single spy or
369. 12:02communist
370. 12:02mccarthy was held to account many in his
371. 12:05own party
372. 12:06finally distanced themselves from him
373. 12:08now that it was safe to do
374. 12:10so within weeks of the hearings the
375. 12:12senate voted
376. 12:13overwhelmingly to censure him though he
377. 12:15retained a base of devoted supporters
378. 12:17across the country
379. 12:18he fell from grace and fell hard out of
380. 12:21the national spotlight and frozen in the
381. 12:23senate
382. 12:24he turned to drink and alcoholism and
383. 12:26died just a few years later in 1957
384. 12:30though the red scare continued to
385. 12:31persist to one degree or another
386. 12:33throughout the next few decades of the
387. 12:35cold war
388. 12:36it never again reached the dangerous
389. 12:38state of paranoia and governmental abuse
390. 12:41during the four years of mccarthyism but
391. 12:43the threat of mccarthyism cannot just be
392. 12:45confined to the cold war fear of
393. 12:47communists
394. 12:47it represents any threat to our freedoms
395. 12:50under the pressure to conform
396. 12:52and to fall in line lest you be labeled
397. 12:54an outsider or
398. 12:55traitor or whatever the new communist
399. 12:57becomes and that
400. 12:59is the silver lining of mccarthyism that
401. 13:01from its lessons we can recognize
402. 13:03would-be tyrants
403. 13:04and their witch-hunts and to stand up
404. 13:06before we tarnish our sacred democratic
405. 13:09values
406. 13:09so arm yourselves with history because
407. 13:11in the future you're gonna need it
408. 13:14and thanks for engaging today this has
409. 13:16been history for humans
410. 13:17and now what you've all been waiting for
411. 13:20dad jokes in history
412. 13:22why were the spies always so hard to
413. 13:24recognize during mccarthy's hearings
414. 13:26why because they were so communist
415. 13:30communist ah after that gem
416. 13:34i gotta ask if you could just pull it
417. 13:36together enough to click the thumb that
418. 13:38looks like this
419. 13:39and that we button that says subscribe
420. 13:42it actually helps me a teacher keep
421. 13:43making videos like this
422. 13:45and if you want you can go over to our
423. 13:46website and engage with students from
424. 13:48around the country and forums and have
425. 13:49discussions
426. 13:50and i appreciate you guys so much for
427. 13:52watching and i hope to see you next time
428. 13:54in our episode on the cuban missile
429. 13:55crisis
430. 13:56and if you're doing a learning activity
431. 13:58hang out because we got directions in
432. 13:59just a hot moment
433. 14:05is it saturday morning because i got
434. 14:06some cartoons for you analyzing
435. 14:08political cartoons is a great way to
436. 14:10understand the feelings opinions and
437. 14:12major events in history
438. 14:13and they can help us recognize bias and
439. 14:16symbolism and develop our analysis
440. 14:18skills
441. 14:18and they're pretty fun and cool as well
442. 14:20but the big question you're going to be
443. 14:21thinking about as you do the learning
444. 14:23activity is
445. 14:24how did the red scared mccarthyism
446. 14:26impact the civil liberties of americans
447. 14:28you will first break down each cartoon
448. 14:30by identifying important
449. 14:32objects in it thinking about what the
450. 14:34title of it represents
451. 14:35and what's a little harder is you're
452. 14:37going to be trying to think what was
453. 14:38happening in america at that time
454. 14:40that could explain what's going on in
455. 14:42the cartoon so try to apply what you
456. 14:44learned in this video
457. 14:45to that cartoon and lastly you're going
458. 14:47to read part of a speech from president
459. 14:49truman you're going to answer some
460. 14:51questions and then identify
461. 14:52which cartoon best matches up with
462. 14:55different points that he makes in the
463. 14:57speech
464. 14:57and there's not necessarily one right
465. 14:59answer and that's why you have to
466. 15:00explain your reasoning
467. 15:02on why you think that cartoon is the
468. 15:03best match okay i hope you enjoy it and
469. 15:05i want you to act like geologists on
470. 15:07this one and
471. 15:08rock it