McCarthy Hearings, Welch v McCarthy - Essay Example

McCarthy hearings Introduction Born on November 2, 1908, Joseph McCarty rose from a poor Irish Catholic family to become a Republican Senator from Wisconsin and served for two terms. The greatest attention of Joseph McCarty occurred during the anti-communist movement times in United States that occurred between 1950 and 1954. However, his career as U.S. Senator ended through a Senate censure. McCarthy represented the class of people who did not want Communism in American soil. He campaigned aggressively against the permeation of communism into the government and became famous in addition to being on among the most admired men. Although he became a hero to many Americans, some, especially liberals sought to taint his name. His eminent fall came in 1953 when he started attacking the U.S. Army and accused President Eisenhower of protecting communism sympathizers and subversives in government. Of course, government information and documents proved McCarty right. In a sharp reaction, President Eisenhower asked the Republicans to stop attacking the U.S. Army, and called the Senate to censure McCarthy. After his censure in 1954, his influence deteriorated. The censure of McCarthy signaled the end of anticommunist crusade in 1954, but opened a series of hearings pitting McCarthy and the top generals in the U.S. Army. The Senate Subcommittee allowed live televised proceedings. The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post are among the newspapers that have given consensus on McCarthy hearings. There is no doubt the matter stole the headlines at least in all newspapers. This was a matter of great concern to the American people. Some American people supported communism while others came with gun blazing to oppose it. There is no doubt that the media was the central point of airing the views of both parties. In matters like this, the media plays a significant role. The involvement of the media in televising the proceedings of the investigations proves that McCarthy hearings drew huge attention from the media. In fact, this was the historic first televised inquiry from congress where three television stations NBC, ABC and Dumont networks covered the proceedings live for 36 days. During this period, at least all famous newspapers wrote proceeding of the McCarthy hearings bringing a nexus between media and American politics (Lawrence, 1954, p. 1). Event given a prominent place The New York Times presents the McCarthy hearings in a complete theatrically and narrative unity that brought the nation to a standstill. The exchanges between the representatives from the army and McCarthy are indeed headline makers that newspapers found during that period. The fact that the hearings were the first congressional inquiries televised live was no doubt a significant milestone in the American political and media history. According to the New York Times, there is clear sense that the hearings were of great importance to the public since the issue of communism affected all Americans. Therefore, by writing on the issue, the information exposed millions of Americans not only on the inherent significance of the Army-McCarthy hearings, but also the unfolding of events. The media is the educator of the public and without the media many thing occurring in darkness will always remain there. The Army-McCarthy hearings indeed took the prominent place in the New York Times and many other newspapers due to the gravity of the matter. In fact, analyzing the subsequent newspaper articles from the New York Times, at least there is a continued coverage of the issue, and many newspaper articles have even changed the subject into “McCarthyism”. It is also paramount to note that unlike many other things that happened in America during this period, the Army-McCarthy hearings have always remained on the limelight not only in the media, but also in the popular memory of many Americans. For instance, in order to add vitality to the information provided in newspapers, some filmmakers resorted to record popular American political spectacles in a documentary and the Army-McCarthy hearings is one of them. The fact the New York Times covered the McCarthy hearings in four pages means that the matter was a prominent one (Lawrence, 1954, p. 2). Welch v. McCarthy prominently treated in the article The purpose of the congressional inquiry that attracted the attention the media largely was to unravel the convoluted series of allegations and exchanges between the U.S. Army and Senator McCarthy. The New York Times reports that the conflict between McCarthy and the U.S. Army began in 1953 when David Schine, a consultant working for McCarthy, joined the U.S. Army. Roy Cohn, who was the chief counsel to McCarthy, opted for a spirited campaign to force the military to accord Schine special privileges even before his induction. The U.S. Army was not comfortable with this behavior from Cohn. Consequently, in 1954, they released a chronology documentary that showed the improper motives and intrusions directed at Schine’s career in the U.S. Army. On hearing this, McCarthy became furious and attacked the Army of holding Schine hostage so that he is not in a position to reveal to his committee the communists serving in different positions within the military ranks. In order to solve the dispute between McCarthy and the U.S. Army, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations had to come in. However, during this time, McCarthy was the chair of the subcommittee. In order to bring neutrality into the hearings, McCarthy relinquished the chair’s position to Karl Mundt. Thus, the boorish McCarthy became the contestant against the U.S. Army, and the bleary-eyed Cohn was the witness (Lawrence, 1954, p. 3). The U.S. Army hired an avuncular Joseph Welch, a lawyer from Boston, to take the two head on. According to the New York Times, Welch was a calm patrician who attracted the attention of many people, while Cohn was a groveling posturing fellow and McCarthy had nothing but continuous outbursts. The audience comprised generals from the military, senators and staffers and some other lawyers. In a smoke-filled hearing room, the proceedings went on even as over 20 million Americans watched the knotty testimony, an exchange of reciprocated allegations over scrutinized telephone banters, fake photographs, and fictitious memoranda. However, on June 2, 1954, the Army-McCarthy hearings reached climax after the two lawyers settled on a pre-hearing agreement. However, in his outbursts, McCarthy went ahead to call one lawyer colleague of Welch, Fred Fischer, “a communist sympathizer”. On hearing this, Welch responded with a blameless flare-up that spread the laughter to all corners of America: "Until this moment, senator, I think I never gauged your cruelty or recklessness….Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" McCarthy could not respond as Welch had moved on to call another witness into the stand. McCarthy was so much ashamed and embarrassed (Lawrence, 1954, p. 4). My surprise It is so ironical McCarthy acquired fame and honour by addressing the nation thus giving him legitimacy and power. However, these are the very things that brought his downfall. Additionally, his abhorrent character and undignified interludes exhibited a hot personality floppy in an unruffled intermediate. Historians with hindsight might not agree with me on the role of the media in politics, but I believe that under the full glare of the media, people can unravel the truth by themselves. Reference Lawrence, W. H. (September 1, 1954).Welch Assails McCarthy’s 'Cruelty' And 'Recklessness' In Attack On Aide; Senator, On Stand, Tells Of Red Hunt. New York: The New York Times. Read More