Joseph McCarthy (left) and Edward R. Murrow.
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only about 22% of the nation’s eighth-grade students are proficient in civics. One good way for students in our state to study civics is through an infamous episode from the 1950s when a journalist stood up to a powerful U.S. senator from Wisconsin.
Joseph McCarthy, Edward R. Murrow, and the Red Scare is a First Amendment case study from history. All Wisconsin students should learn the lessons behind this case.
Author Sandy Flores Ruiz.
Sandy Flores Ruiz
Joe McCarthy was one of the most controversial politicians in American history. He served as a Wisconsin senator from when he was first elected in 1947 until his death in 1957. He is known for declaring that communist spies and sympathizers had penetrated the U.S. federal government. During the early 1950s, few people dared to speak out against McCarthy as his accusations and tactics were so intimidating. For those who did criticize McCarthy, the consequences were often dire. He would dramatically denounce them and accuse the person of being a communist, often without proof. Jobs were lost and reputations were ruined.
One of the first people to openly challenge McCarthy was renowned journalist Edward R. Murrow. It took great courage, but Murrow’s exposés about McCarthyism played an important role in the senator’s downfall. On March 9, 1954, millions of Americans watched as Murrow used his national news program to attack McCarthy and his methods. This dramatic chapter in American history was captured in a 2005 film directed by George Clooney: Good Night, and Good Luck.
McCarthyism serves as a lesson and a crucial reminder for students today. One reason to study civics is to learn the value of freedom of the press and freedom of speech as laid out in the First Amendment. During the 1950s, Americans hesitated to exercise their rights or question the actions of so-called anti-communists like McCarthy. He gained the support of many by tapping into American concerns about communist infiltration. Lessons from the McCarthy era highlight that the silence of many can lead to abuses of power. The First Amendment protects us all by giving us the right to speak up.
As the film Good Night, and Good Luck says, the early 1950s was a time when “a nation was terrorized by its own government.” McCarthy’s investigations targeted communists and created fear that divided a country. But eventually, when public opinion finally turned against him, Joseph McCarthy and his unproven allegations were rejected.
It was the First Amendment that made it possible for Murrow to challenge McCarthy. In the end, it was freedom of speech and freedom of the press, enshrined in our Constitution, that helped protect Americans from McCarthy’s demagoguery.
[This is a slightly edited version of an essay that won first place in the Wisconsin Civics Games Editorial Contest. Author Sandy Flores Ruiz is a senior at Madison West High School and a student editor at Simpson Street Free Press.]
