Terrorism, Nuclear Threat, and the Red Scare

Terrorism, Nuclear Threat, And the Red Scare

With the carnage of the Boston Marathon bombings still echoing in the minds of many Americans just weeks after the devastating terrorist attack took place, the residual fear and uncertainty that resulted from the September 11th attacks was brought the forefront of the national consciousness. After years of relative inactivity in terms of terror attacks launched on American soil, the public's sense of complacency and calm was shattered by a seemingly random event. This pattern repeats that which was experienced by an entire generation during the 1950's and 1960's, when the Cold War against the Soviet Union positioned the planet on the precipice of nuclear war and global annihilation. During this especially tense era in America's history, the general public was held hostage by the posturing and provocation of the U.S.S.R. And its increasingly belligerent foreign policy maneuvers. Schoolchildren were taught to huddle under their desks during the now infamous "duck and cover" drills, homeowners constructed bomb shelters in the backyards, and entire families gathered around their televisions and radios to await the news that nuclear war had ignited. Even during periods of relative peace during the Cold War, occasional escalations such as the Bay of Pigs standoff heightened the collective state of fear experienced by the American public. Today, the specter of a Soviet missile launch has been replaced by the lingering doubts regarding the threat of a so-called "dirty bomb" attack, in which Al-Qaeda sympathizers manage to detonate a traditional explosive equipped with nuclear material. As a recent report by the New York Times stated of the similarities between the Cold War and today's ongoing War on Terror, "then, as now, investigators searched for agents they feared were in the United States awaiting orders to attack. Then, too, the government spent millions to install radiation detectors at airports and seaports despite doubts about their effectiveness" (Shane, 2010). While the ideological objectives of the enemy may have changed, the perpetual state of public fear that has been instilled remains the same.

2.) Write a 300- to 350-word paper in which you describe the Red Scare. Consider the role of the media in relation to McCarthyism and how Americans' lives changed because of McCarthyism.

During the height of undeclared hostilities between the United States and the Soviet Union, as the general public grew ever more fearful of the threats posed by the Communist ideology and its seemingly inevitable spread through Europe and Asia, many viewed the crisis as simply an opportunity for the pursuit of political power. One of the most effective exploitations of the American aversion to Communism was Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin), a man who used his position of prominence to espouse an especially virulent anti-Communist agenda. During his time in the Senate, McCarthy almost singlehandedly engineered the social phenomenon known today as the "Red Scare," by using his bully pulpit to publically impugn the reputations of rivals, declaring that the State Department, Army, and other agencies within the federal government had been infiltrated by Communist sympathizers, members of the Communist Party, and even spies sent directly by the Kremlin to influence the American political process. During the peak of his power, McCarthy demonized individuals and organizations, labeling hundreds of people as Communist in his now infamous committees and hearings to determine loyalty. While McCarthy caused considerable damage during his reign of fear-mongering and accusation, the dogged reporting of legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow, through his "See It Now" television series exposed his allegations as the baseless ravings of a man consumed by paranoia and corrupted by power. As Murrow stated in his reportorial takedown of McCarthy and his Red Scare, "his primary achievement has been in confusing the public mind, as between the internal and the external threats of Communism. We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another" (Murrow, 1954).