This is a very important book to read; especially in this
volatile election year. It covers the McCarthy Era, from its beginnings in 1950,
until its ultimate demise in the early 1960’s, under the Kennedy
Administration. It also explores, in depth, the role played by President
Truman, who; for political reasons; instituted the Truman Doctrine in 1946. His
Executive Order Number 9865, allowed the administration of loyalty tests and oaths
to all federal employees. This was the stepping stone that would provide
Senator McCarthy to embark upon his witch-hunts throughout the early 1950’s. It
is a perfect example of what happens to a country when the people allow
themselves to become so divided by the powers which govern them. And it is
happening again; now; here in America.
As World War Two drew to a close there was a deep mistrust
between the Soviet Union and the Allied Powers. While we in the U.S. had
suffered 400,000 deaths as a result of the war, our economy was booming.
Contrasted with that, the Soviet Union had lost 25 million people, both
civilian and military, to the war. In addition, their production levels were
about 40% of what they had been before the war. With rampant hunger abounding,
and thousands of devastated cities and villages in disrepair, the Soviets were
deathly afraid of any expansion on the part of Europe into her territories. In
the minds of their leaders, they had to expand, or at least hold the line
against the Western Powers.
To that end, there were two spots open to the Soviet Union
for expansion of Communism in Eastern Europe. The first was in Greece; the
second was in Turkey. We (the U.S.) were tasked with keeping Turkey from
sliding into Communism, and the British were tasked with the same in Greece,
where the local militias; who were mostly Communists; were attempting to block
the reinstatement of the King and his autocratic government. The King had the
support of Winston Churchill and tacitly, that of the United States.
By 1947 the weight of debt in a war weary England had forced
her to hand Greece off to the United States, while Britain attempted to recover
from the extensive damage caused by the German air raids, as well as the
economic fallout from the expense of 7 years of war. They had been fighting
since the 1939 invasion of Poland, while we had stayed out of the fray until
the events at Pearl Harbor in December of 1941.
The reasoning behind Truman’s Executive Order was to keep
the United States from battling Communism from within. There were some people
working in government who had empathy for the Communist causes, but nowhere
near enough to justify such Draconian measures as Truman’s “purge” of public
servants who may not have agreed with his world views. This pains me deeply, as
I have always considered Truman to have been one of our finer Presidents. But
the Democrats had taken such a beating in the midterm elections of 1946 that
Truman had to appear strong against Communism. Unknowingly, he had opened a
Pandora’s Box, which would have grave consequences for our country in the
decade to come.
Also, in 1947 the House of Un-American Activities was already
subpoenaing the Hollywood crowd; consisting mostly of writers and directors;
among them such greats as Ring Lardner and Dalton Trumbo and even Edward
Dymytryk; who was the only director named on the infamous list of the Hollywood
Ten. The resultant hearings, and trials, would cast a pall over Hollywood which
would last until the early 1960’s.
By 1950, when most of the alleged Communists had been
“purged” from government offices, Senator McCarthy of Wisconsin was ready to
re-invigorate the game of “Red baiting” for his own political ambitions. This
was the beginning of the “witch hunt” trials we have all heard about.
The Smith Act of 1940; which carried penalties for belonging
to any institution dedicated to the overthrow of the government; contained a
clause that carried a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, with up to a $5,000
fine for even being a member of the Communist Party. When the McCarran Act of
1950 was introduced, it instructed anyone who was a Communist to register with
the government. This meant that the people involved were essentially abrogating
their 5th Amendment Right against Self-Incrimination, which made
both laws highly suspect. The only person in the United States to ever serve
time for merely being a member of the Party was Junius Scales, who had joined a
club in 1939 while a student at UNC Chapel Hill.
The American Communist Party, in reaction to these laws,
went deeper and deeper underground, which only made it harder for the
government to keep track of them. In the days before satellites and digitized
phone calls, the only way to be sure of where a suspect was involved constant
surveillance of the suspect’s residence, as well as following their entire
families.
Passports were denied if you had signed any kind of petition
against the government, no matter how long ago, or why. Reading material was
highly suspect, resulting in some trials, as well as almost comical events such
as one trial where the accused was faced with the fact that they had read
“Darkness at Noon”, which was about Stalin’s brutality; and also the 1950 novel
“The God That Failed”, which was about 6 intellectuals who go to Moscow to see
Communism in action, only to return home disillusioned. As far as the House Committee was concerned,
if it said Communist, then it was subversive. Thought, by default, was on
trial.
Membership in trade unions, or attendance of a labor school
run by unions, was on the list. Author Howard Fast was imprisoned for refusing
to answer questions about who he had known, and what he had done, 3 decades
earlier in college. In Birmingham a man named Sam Hill was tried for vagrancy,
even though he was employed as a writer for the Daily Worker. His job was
considered to be “disreputable.” After his conviction, the City Council passed
an ordinance for all Communists to leave Birmingham within 48 hours, or face
imprisonment.
It was always a double bind when you were accused. You were
guilty simply because you had been accused, and you were expected to name names
of others whom you knew to be Communists. Taking the Fifth Amendment was like
pleading guilty, and the accused was now treated as “hostile” by the
Congressional Committees investigating them, as well as the courts in which
some were tried.
This is a very important book for all Americans to read. It
shows what can happen; told in the words of the people it happened to; when
fear is allowed to divide us as a people. When all is said and done, our
greatest strength is in the things which unite us. Unless we stop the constant
politics of division, we will be headed back down the road of the American
Inquisition before too long.
With excellent annotation; and edited in such a way which
makes the whole topic come together in an understandable way; this is a book
for serious students of the time period which lead up to the McCarthy Era, as
well as the scars it left upon our country.
