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McCarthyism
“McCarthyism has become a general term for the hysterical
investigation of a government's opponents or the publicizing of
accusations against these opponents without sufficient evidence to
support the charges,” says 
the
American Heritage New
Dictionary of Cultural Literacy.
As the Second World War gave way to the Cold War in the late 1940s and Communist governments took hold in Eastern Europe and in China, fear of Communist subversion and infiltration began to grow in the United States. Suspicions began to arise, and many began to worry that several high-ranking government officials could be potential Communists.
Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy took advantage of this climate of fear in American culture to advance his political career. During a speech in February of 1950 he waved sheets of paper in front of the eyes of the press, claiming that he had the names of 205 communist agents in the State Department. Since it has never been illegal to hold Communist beliefs, McCarthy began accusing people of subversion—an act similar to treason, and an effort to undermine the government from within.
The fear of communism was not new to the United States in the 1950s. But McCarthy’s accusations caused a strong reaction. They held such power that very few dared oppose them. The combination of recent events and McCarthy’s accusations led to a swift mass movement to remove communists from office. The Soviet Union had successfully tested an atomic bomb the year before, and communists had recently taken over the Chinese government. Several domestic cases of espionage and conspiracy among communists helped to heighten fears as well.
The
McCarthy era highlighted Americans’ increased distrust of
government. People were ready to believe communist subversion and
corruption had spread to government.
Secrecy still held sway, so it was more difficult to uncover scandals such as this. If there were scandals, the media usually did not bring them to the fore as we see today. So the public reaction to the McCarthy scandal was not as great as its reaction to the later scandals, those broadcast over the airwaves and commented on so much by the media. People came to accept the media’s interpretation of issues – if they saw it on TV it must be true, right? But for the McCarthy scandal, the American public had less access to the everyday hearings. The mood was therefore less one of outrage than one of fear.
The Checkers Speech Scandal
Richard Nixon had come to fame in the McCarthy era for his militant anti-communism and his service on the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). He was elected to the Senate in 1950. When Dwight Eisenhower was chosen as the Republican candidate for the 1952 presidential election, he selected Nixon as his vice presidential running mate.
Several days later a headline in the New York Post accused Nixon of profiting personally from large amounts of money in campaign contributions. This accusation posed a great threat to his political career, and he was urged to withdraw from the Republican ticket to save face.
Instead
of withdrawing, however, Nixon chose to address the
nation on television. This brilliant political move didn’t only save
his career. He had witnessed the power of TV to shape public
perception, and he decided to use this power to his benefit. Nixon’s
brilliant use of rhetoric and invocation of the American ideals of
truth and accountability made him look like the politician most worthy
of the nation’s trust.
He straightforwardly addressed public fears of political corruption and lack of confidence in government officials in the opening lines of his speech, denying that he was one of those usual politicians who ignore or deny charges against them without explanation. He made clear that he intended to be completely and openly honest with the American people about his use of campaign contributions. Had the accusations been true, he suggested, he would certainly have been in the wrong and breaking the law. He denied using any of the $18,000 from the secret political fund for personal uses. He even denied the fund was a secret. Nixon also said no special favors or handouts were given to contributors to the fund.
Nixon’s goal was obviously to avoid further charges against his integrity. To quiet the fears of the American public, he made sure to divulge further information about the fund and his use of the money. He also informed the public that he wasn’t legally obligated to do this but would come clean anyway to prove his integrity (and to safeguard his reputation). He asked, should the government and the taxpayers have to pay for expenses accrued by Senators for travel or for printing speeches or for TV broadcasts? He argued that the fund helped pay for these expenses, saving the government and taxpayers a lot of money.
His description of the fund seemed long and detailed, but in actuality Americans heard only a brief discussion. He then produced an audit of the firm and a legal opinion in his favor by notable firms supporting his statement that he obtained no personal benefits from the campaign contributions.
In another political move he alleged that his Democratic
opponent had put his wife on the payroll to pay for expenses. This
certainly made Nixon’s way of funding expenses seem much more ethical.
He also emphasized his modest American childhood, the hard work he put
in to get through schooling, his military service, his healthy family
life, and his values. He even went into his salaries as a politician
and his life insurance policy.
He did admit to receiving one gift after the election – a little dog – which his daughter named Checkers. He reinforces his regular guy image, saying “And you know, the kids, like all kids, love the dog and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we're gonna keep it.”
After clearing himself, he began to hint the finance records of several of his political contemporaries were less than squeaky clean. He then began describing the good qualities of a politician and what it takes to make a good leader. Nixon also reminisced to his days of communist-fighting, citing the Alger Hiss case and promising to continue the fight to protect the country. And he explains why: “Because, you see, I love my country. And I think my country is in danger. And I think that the only man that can save America at this time is the man that's running for President on my ticket — Dwight Eisenhower.” He decries the Truman administration’s handling of the Korean War and the problem of corruption in Washington.
Nixon’s message to the nation was that he was a man of integrity who would fight to save the nation from “the crooks and the Communists and those that defend them…” and that his running-mate Eisenhower was the best man for the job. Nixon did not avoid scandal by apologizing or by avoiding the question. He instead did the most politically beneficial thing he could have possibly done by opening himself up to the nation to prove that not only was he not guilty but also that he was more trustworthy and incorruptible than his opponents. This speech was one of the first to use the medium of TV to shape the identity of politicians, and it stemmed from a potentially damaging scandal. Nixon avoided scandal by giving the appearance of being an ordinary man with no guilty secrets, a man whose life represented the complete opposite of corruption and scandal. And as he wasn’t booted from the Republican ticket, Nixon did achieve his goal.