Anticommunism and McCarthysim

Communism is a system of government where all economic and social activity is dominated by one party that holds all of the power. Anticommunism is the opposition of communism or the belief that communism is not acceptable. After World War II anticommunism and the cold war were very prevalent in the United States. The anticommunist movement was born from the fear in the United States that communism would become a direct threat to the government. In the early 1950's McCarthyism was born. McCarthyism is a term coined to criticize the anticommunist pursuits of Republic U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. Anticommunism and McCarthyism are closely related. They both are anticommunist movements. The differences between Anticommunism and McCarthyism are while Anticommunism is a belief in opposing communism; McCarthyism was a radical tactic of accusing people without proper proof of being communist.

During the time of Anticommunism and McCarthyism the television and broadcasting, was new to America. Senator McCarty used the television broadcasting to get right in the living rooms and the minds of ignorant Americans. The viewers believed he was sincere and with little or no convincing rebuttal to his opinions, viewers were ill-equipped to doubt the senator. Furthermore, his slightly disheveled appearance on live TV or the evening news gave him the air of a sincere man under siege by enemies. This lent credibility to his amazing accusations (MacDonald, 2009). The media did not do much, mostly because they were so intimidated by the political climate. (Brinkley, p. 785, 2007). In an column in the Wall Street Journal call the Babbling Press written on Nov 20 1953 regarding accusation that President Eisenhower's administration was embracing McCarthyism, a reporter even goes as far as to say "Self-importance has proved fatal to more than one newspaperman." (Wall Street Journal, 1953).

Anticommunist propaganda dictated foreign policy by scaring "the hell out of the American people". (Naranjo, 2012). Americans where only concerned with your stance on communism. This modified relationships with the outside world. NATO was formed to help European countries from possible Soviet advances. Anticommunism also influenced changes in the presidency, from Truman to Eisenhower. This was good for the America because there was so much fear under Truman and Eisenhower downplayed much of the anticommunist propaganda.

"The Red Scare" was a real fear of the Soviet Union spreading communism over the whole world and of communist espionage in the United States during the 1950's. Americans were scared. They were scared of Stalin and the Soviets. They were distraught over the Korean War. China turned communist and the Soviets developed the atomic bomb. All of these components together put a fear in American and they needed to find someone to blame so it became easy for the American