Editing McCarthyism (section)

{{Short description|Phenomenon of US political rhetoric after WWII}}
{{about|the events during the Cold War|general information about the phenomenon|Red Scare}}
{{use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox event
| title = Second Red Scare
| partof = the [[Cold War]]
| image = Anticommunist Literature 1950s.png
| image_size = 300px
| caption = American [[anti-communist]] [[propaganda]] of the 1950s, specifically addressing the entertainment industry
| duration = 1947–1959
| location = [[United States]]
| cause = [[Fall of China]], [[Korean War]]
| participants = {{ubl|[[House Un-American Activities Committee]]|Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]]|[[J. Edgar Hoover]]}}
| accused = {{ubl|Alleged communists including:|[[Hollywood Ten]]}}
| outcome =  * Decline of membership in the [[Communist Party USA]]
* Persecution of thousands of innocent people
* Senate censure of McCarthy
| reported deaths = 
| arrests = 
| convicted = 
| inquiries = * [[Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders]]
* [[Army–McCarthy hearings]]
}}{{conservatism US|history}}
{{Anti-communism|History}}

'''McCarthyism''' is a political practice defined by the [[political repression]] and persecution of [[left-wing]] individuals and a [[Fear mongering|campaign spreading fear]] of [[communist]] and [[Soviet]] influence on American institutions and of [[Soviet espionage in the United States]] during the late 1940s through the 1950s, heavily associated with the '''Second Red Scare''' also known as the '''McCarthy Era'''.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Storrs|first=Landon R. Y.|date=July 2, 2015|title=McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare|url=https://oxfordre.com/americanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-6|journal=American History|language=en|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.6|isbn=978-0199329175|access-date=July 3, 2018|archive-date=July 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703191049/http://americanhistory.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-6|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> After the mid-1950s, U.S. Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]], who had spearheaded the campaign, gradually lost his public popularity and credibility after several of his accusations were found to be false.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/43mam8fk9780252037009.html|title=UI Press {{!}} Robert M. Lichtman {{!}} The Supreme Court and McCarthy-Era Repression: One Hundred Decisions|last=Lichtman|first=Robert M.|website=www.press.uillinois.edu|language=en|access-date=October 20, 2019|archive-date=May 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190512060527/https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/43mam8fk9780252037009.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4975529|title=Revisiting McCarthyism in the Patriot Act Era|website=NPR.org|language=en|access-date=October 20, 2019|archive-date=October 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020072933/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4975529|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Warren Court|U.S. Supreme Court under]] Chief Justice [[Earl Warren]] made a series of rulings on civil and political rights that overturned several key laws and legislative directives, and helped bring an end to the Second Red Scare.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TMc0yiJLydYC&q=McCarthyism+Warren+Court&pg=PA53|title=The Warren Court and the Pursuit of Justice|last=Horwitz|first=Morton J.|date=1999|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0809016259|language=en|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-date=November 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113040739/https://books.google.com/books?id=TMc0yiJLydYC&q=McCarthyism+Warren+Court&pg=PA53|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=https://www.oyez.org/cases/1956/6|title=Yates v. United States|website=Oyez|language=en|access-date=October 20, 2019|archive-date=August 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824110722/https://www.oyez.org/cases/1956/6|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url=https://www.oyez.org/cases/1956/261|title=Watkins v. United States|website=Oyez|language=en|access-date=October 20, 2019|archive-date=October 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020072928/https://www.oyez.org/cases/1956/261|url-status=live}}</ref> Historians have suggested since the 1980s that as McCarthy's involvement was less central than that of others, a different and more accurate term should be used instead that more accurately conveys the breadth of the phenomenon, and that the term ''McCarthyism'' is, in the modern day, outdated. Ellen Schrecker has suggested that '''''Hooverism''''', after [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] Head [[J. Edgar Hoover]], is more appropriate.{{sfn|Schrecker|1998|p=203}}