McCarthyism advertised itself as a response to national security threats created by the Cold War, including Soviet espionage. But the movement was bigger than Senator Joseph McCarthy.

It created what the Supreme Court Justice, William O. Douglas, called “the black silence of fear,” narrowing the spectrum of acceptable ideas, while demonizing left-wing dissent.

McCarthyism of the early 1950s was the height of postwar anti-communism in America as Sen. Joseph McCarthy lambasted government agencies and the U.S. Army for being hot beds of communists.

This mattered because it was his article that ignited McCarthyism. In the eighth paragraph, the reporter repeated the claim from the speech text that McCarthy had “a list of 205” spies ...

McCarthyism of the early 1950s was the height of postwar anti-communism in America as Sen. Joseph McCarthy lambasted government agencies and the U.S. Army for being hot beds of communists.