McCarthy

• Joseph McCarthy was a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin who claimed to have knowledge of many famous Americans who were Communists.

• After the Rosenberg conviction, the public was experiencing paranoia and hysteria, ready to believe that Communists were hiding under every bed in the U.S.

• McCarthy led hearings in Congress designed to identify and blacklist these Communists. His popularity and boldness continued to grow.

• Eventually he claimed that the Pentagon was infiltrated by Communists, and that leaders like Eisenhower did not care.

• McCarthy tangled with an elderly attorney for the U.S. Army named Joseph Welch. He claimed that Welch had a young employee that was a member of the Communist Party.

DECISION: Who do you support in this conflict: Senator Joseph McCarthy or Joseph Welch?

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