Joseph McCarthy

Joseph McCarthy was a Republican U.S. senator from Wisconsin whose allegations of communist infiltration in government fueled a national political campaign in the early Cold War.

McCarthy hearings: Senate hearings led by Joseph McCarthy that investigated alleged communist influence in government and other institutions. These televised proceedings made his investigative tactics and accusations nationally visible.
Second Red Scare: A period of intense fear of communist subversion in the United States, especially from the late 1940s through the 1950s. McCarthy's rise depended on the wider anticommunist climate of this period.
Roy Cohn: An American lawyer who served as chief counsel to McCarthy's Senate investigations. Cohn helped direct investigations and became one of McCarthy's closest political associates.
McCarthyism: The practice of making reckless accusations of subversion, often with inadequate evidence, especially in the United States during the early Cold War. The term grew from McCarthy's name to describe a wider style of political accusation.
Venona project: A U.S. intelligence program that decrypted some Soviet communications from the 1940s and early 1950s. Its documentary intelligence evidence contrasts with McCarthy's often unsubstantiated public claims.
Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations: A U.S. Senate subcommittee that investigates government operations and alleged misconduct. McCarthy used its hearings and subpoena powers to pursue alleged communist influence.
House Un-American Activities Committee: A committee of the U.S. House of Representatives that investigated alleged subversion and disloyalty. Its earlier investigations helped normalize congressional probes into alleged communist influence.
David Schine: A wealthy American and former McCarthy committee consultant whose Army service became central to a 1954 controversy. Efforts by Cohn and McCarthy to obtain favorable treatment for Schine triggered the Army dispute.
Hollywood blacklist: The exclusion of people in the film industry from employment because of suspected communist ties or refusal to answer political questions. It shows how anticommunist investigations and pressure affected cultural workers beyond government.
Paul Robeson: An American singer, actor, and political activist whose left-wing views brought government scrutiny and professional exclusion. Robeson's experience shows how anticommunist pressure also targeted outspoken political dissent.

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