McCarthy (2020)

McCarthy is a documentary film which premiered on US television (PBS) in 2020.

The topic is the rise and fall of the Senator from Wisconsin: Joseph McCarthy (1908-1957).

McCarthy is an episode in the long-running program American Experience (volume 32, episode 01).

Here is some basic information about it:

** Writer, producer and director: Sharon Grimberg

** Partially based on a book by David Oshinsky

** Run time: 112 minutes

Many persons are interviewed in the film. Some are historians who have studied the topic and written books about it. Some of these books are listed below. Here are the names (listed in alphabetical order):

** Jelani Cobb - historian

** Thomas Doherty – historian – author of Show Trial: Hollywood, HUAC, and the Birth of the Blacklist (Hardcover 2018, paperback 2019)

** Beverley Gage - historian

** Leon Kamin (1927-2017) – psychologist – a student of psychology at Harvard University in 1954

** David Lattimore – son of Owen Lattimore (1900-1989)

** Timothy Naftali – CNN, presidential historian

** David Oshinsky – historian – author of A Conspiracy so Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy (1983, new edition 2005) (the film is partially based on this book)

** “Dolly” H. McCarthy Plesser - Joseph McCarthy’s cousin

** Donald A. Ritchie - senate historian emeritus

** Ellen Schrecker - historian – author of Many Are the Crimes: McCarthyism in America (1998)

** Alvin A. Spivak – a reporter

** Cody Splitt (born 13 August 1919) - US Navy Veteran, female attorney – McCarthy campaign volunteer in 1946

** Sam Tanenhaus – a journalist, a writer

Between the talking heads there are numerous old photos and old clips which are used to illustrate the life and times of the Senator from Wisconsin.

Joseph McCarthy was born in Wisconsin in 1908. He won a seat in the US Senate two times:

** The first election took place in 1946. The first six year term ran from 1947 to 1953.

** The second election took place in 1952. The second six year term ran from 1953 to 1959. Since he died in 1957, he was unable complete the second term.

McCarthy was a powerful or at least an influential politician from 1950 to 1954. Using his name, this four year period is known as the time of McCarthyism in the US.

This film is about the man (McCarthy) as well as the phenomenon (McCarthyism).

His life and career is covered in great detail. From the beginning in 1908 to the end in 1957. We learn who he was and how he worked.

The film covers the rise and the fall of McCarthy. It explains how and why he could became a well-known person, a powerful or at least an influential politician, in 1950. It also explains how and why his fame and fortune came to a sudden end in 1954.

If you are interested in the history of the US – in particular the history of human rights in the US – this film is definitely something for you. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

PS # 1. This film has been underway for a long time. It has been in the works (on and off) since 2003!

PS # 2. The following review of the film is available online: Robert Lloyd, “Review: McCarthy,” Los Angeles Times, 6 January 2020.

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ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS

McCarthy (the man) and McCarthyism (the phenomenon) placed in a historical context.

The four years of McCarthyism (1950-1954) is a part of a longer period of US history that is known as the Second Red Scare, usually dated 1947-1957. This period is closely connected with the Second World War.

The First Red Scare is usually dated 1917-1920. This period is closely connected with the First World War.

The Red Scare is a term which marks a time of persecution; a time when dissidents, elements on the left wing of politics are persecuted: not only communists, socialists, and anarchists, but even social democrats.

Sometimes people who study US history compare what they find with European history, and then they have to ask a number of questions:

Why is there no socialist party in the US? Why is there not even a social democratic party in the US? Why is there no workers movement in the US?  Why is there no trade union movement in the US?

There are two ways to answer such questions:

The first answer says: socialism has no place in the US. Nobody wants it. That is why it is not there.

The US is the land of liberty. People are free to be socialists if they really want to, but nobody likes socialism, nobody likes trade unions, and this is why it is almost impossible to find such things anywhere in the US.

This answer is hard to believe, because it does not fit the historical facts.

The second answer says: whenever any type of socialism is about to become popular and maybe influential, it is immediately stopped; literally crushed by the establishment which regards any type of socialism as a threat which cannot be tolerated.

This answer is realistic, because it fits the historical facts.

It is not necessary to arrest all dissidents. In most cases, it is enough to arrange a few conspicuous examples. When you do this, the majority will understand the message and back down. This method usually works for one generation.

Here are two examples from the First Red Scare:

** The deportation of striking miners from Bisbee (Arizona) in 1917

** The deportation of Russian immigrants (including Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman) to Russia in 1919

After the end of World War Two, many ordinary people had high ambitions. They wanted slogans like “liberty and justice for all” to be real and not just empty words. But obviously, this could not be allowed. Once again, it was time to silence the dissidents. Once again, it was necessary to arrange a few conspicuous examples.

Here are two examples from the Second Red Scare:

** HUAC – the House of Representatives (1947-1950)

** McCarthyism – the US Senate (1950-1954)

After the Second Red Scare the US government tried to use a different approach. It was decided to work in secret. The FBI would infiltrate dissident and popular movements and organizations in order to spy on them.

Undercover agents would often advocate for violent actions. If their advice was taken, the FBI could then accuse the members of breaking the law. Obviously, the undercover agent would not be prosecuted for his role, even though he had advocated violent action.

This approach is known as the counter-intelligence-program, usually abbreviated as COINTELPRO. It was used from 1956 to 1971. It was ended in 1971, because it was exposed by a small group of political activists.

The only popular movement which was allowed to succeed was the movement which demanded the female vote. This victory of a popular movement was probably allowed to happen, because the establishment realized that it was not a real threat to those who had power and privilege. After all, most women voted like their brother or their father. Giving women the right to vote did not upset the traditional results of national and presidential elections.

Contrary to what many male politicians believed, the majority of American women were not radical socialists who wanted to change the American system in any fundamental way. They simply wanted the right to vote. Once they had that, most women did not want more.

This situation lasted for more than one generation. Things did not really change on this front until the 1970s when a new feminist movement began to appear.

The new feminist movement wanted the US to adopt the ERA, the Equal Rights Amendment, and the movement almost succeeded, but in the end it was defeated. Not by old-fashioned men, but by women who insisted they did not want such a change!

When McCarthy (the man) and McCarthyism (the phenomenon) are placed in a historical context, we can see that they are small parts of a large system which is designed to suppress dissent and make sure dissenters are marginalized.

REFERENCES

** Red Scare: A Study in National Hysteria, 1919-1920 by Robert K. Murray (1964)

** Political Hysteria in America: The Democratic Capacity for Repression by Murray B. Levin (1972)

** Freedom under Fire: US Civil Liberties in Times of War by Michael Linfield (1990)

** COINTELPRO: The FBI’s Secret War on Political Freedom by Nelson Blackstock (with an introduction by Noam Chomsky) (first published 1976, reprinted 2000)

** The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover’s Secret FBI by Betty Medsger (2014)

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The Senator from Wisconsin:

 

Joseph McCarthy (1908-1957)

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