McCarthyism (jan 1, 1947 – jan 1, 1959)

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McCarthyism, also known as the Second Red Scare, was a political campaign in the United States during the late 1940s through the 1950s, aimed at repressing and persecution of left-wing individuals and spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions. Senator Joseph McCarthy led the campaign, but lost popularity and credibility after several of his accusations were found to be false. The U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren made rulings on civil and political rights that overturned several key laws and legislative directives, helping bring an end to the Second Red Scare. Historians have suggested that Hooverism, after FBI Head J. Edgar Hoover, is more appropriate in the modern day.

The McCarthy era began before McCarthy's rise to national fame, following the breakdown of the wartime East-West alliance with the Soviet Union. President Harry S. Truman signed an executive order in 1947 to screen federal employees for possible association with organizations deemed "totalitarian, fascist, communist, or subversive." The Czechoslovak coup in 1949 heightened concern in the West about Communist parties seizing power and the possibility of subversion. In 1949, a high-level State Department official was convicted of perjury in a case of espionage, and the Soviet Union tested a nuclear bomb. The Korean War started the next year, raising tensions and fears of impending communist upheavals in the United States.

The primary targets for persecution were government employees, prominent figures in the entertainment industry, academics, left-wing politicians, and labor union activists. Suspicions were often given credence despite inconclusive and questionable evidence, and the level of threat posed by a person's real or supposed leftist associations and beliefs was often exaggerated. Many people suffered loss of employment, careers, and livelihoods as a result of the crackdowns on suspected communists.

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