Joseph Mccarthy Communism Analysis

After World War II, a new threat of a different kind appears, the Cold War. It was a new way to keep opposing countries in check. The Cold War signified an emerging nuclear age, where we were no longer fighting face to face in the combat zones of other countries. America, one of the two superpowers post World War II, takes a stand against the other, the USSR (The American Yawp, Ch 25). America is in a race against stockpiling weapons, weapons of mass destruction and complete annihilation of cities and towns from the dominant threat of communism. The American government was now focused on ways of containing and keeping communism from spreading. In Joseph McCarthy’s address on Communism, we see the importance of how this becomes a significant
His angst against communist infiltration in the State Department explained in his recorded speech, is a testament to this as he declares “… In my opinion the State Department… is thoroughly infested with communists. I have in my hand 57 cases of individuals who would appear to be either card-carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party… are still helping to shape our foreign policy (Congressional Record).” He tells the American people of the “emotional hangover and a temporary moral Lapse” that people have after a war. People become numb to the atrocities of war and therefore “apathetic” he says in the speech (Congressional Record). McCarthy tries to spark a flame in the American people by his speech about the infiltration of spies in the government. McCarthy’s angst was a plea to the American people to take a stand against the spread of communism in America. His “witch hunt” on communist spies came to be known as McCarthyism, which was a diversion from his hidden agenda of advancing his political career (The American Yawp, Ch.