Editing Joseph McCarthy (section)

===Army–McCarthy hearings===
{{Main|Army–McCarthy hearings}}
Early in 1954, the U.S. Army accused McCarthy and his chief counsel, [[Roy Cohn]], of improperly pressuring the army to give favorable treatment to [[G. David Schine]], a former aide to McCarthy and a friend of Cohn's, who was then serving in the army as a private.<ref>Schwarz, Frederick D. "[http://www.americanheritage.com/content/1954-50-years-ago-0 1954 50 Years Ago: The Demagogue's Downfall] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201031423/http://www.americanheritage.com/content/1954-50-years-ago-0 |date=December 1, 2017 }}". ''[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]]'', November/December 2004. Retrieved November 30, 2017.</ref> McCarthy claimed that the accusation was made in bad faith, in retaliation for his questioning of Zwicker the previous year. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, usually chaired by McCarthy himself, was given the task of adjudicating these conflicting charges. Republican senator [[Karl Earl Mundt|Karl Mundt]] was appointed to chair the committee, and the [[Army–McCarthy hearings]] convened on April 22, 1954.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/censure_cases/133Joseph_McCarthy.htm |title=U.S. Senate: The Censure Case of Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin (1954) |access-date=July 27, 2020 |archive-date=January 7, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107030754/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/censure_cases/133Joseph_McCarthy.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:McCarthy Cohn.jpg|thumb|McCarthy chats with [[Roy Cohn]] (right) at the [[Army-McCarthy hearings]].]]
The army consulted with an attorney familiar with McCarthy to determine the best approach to attacking him. Based on his recommendation, it decided not to pursue McCarthy on the question of communists in government: "The attorney feels it is almost impossible to counter McCarthy effectively on the issue of kicking Communists out of Government, because he generally has some basis, no matter how slight, for his claim of Communist connection."<ref name=Arthur1>
{{cite book|last = Herman
  |first = Arthur
  |title = Joseph McCarthy: Reexamining the Life and Legacy of America's Most Hated Senator
  |publisher = Free Press
  |year = 1999
  |page = [https://archive.org/details/josephmccarthyre00herm/page/264 264]
  |isbn = 0-684-83625-4
  |url = https://archive.org/details/josephmccarthyre00herm/page/264
  }}
</ref>

The hearings lasted for 36 days and were broadcast on [[live television]] by [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] and [[DuMont Television Network|DuMont]], with an estimated 20 million viewers. After hearing 32 witnesses and two million words of testimony, the committee concluded that McCarthy himself had not exercised any improper influence on Schine's behalf, but that Cohn had engaged in "unduly persistent or aggressive efforts". The committee also concluded that Army Secretary Robert Stevens and Army Counsel John Adams "made efforts to terminate or influence the investigation and hearings at Fort Monmouth", and that Adams "made vigorous and diligent efforts" to block subpoenas for members of the Army Loyalty and Screening Board "by means of personal appeal to certain members of the [McCarthy] committee".<ref>Karl E. Mundt [Senator] et al., ''Report no. 2507, pursuant to Senate Resolution 189'' (Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, August 30, 1954), 80. Online at books.google.com/books?id=Nh64jR1OzjUC&pg=RA245-PA80</ref>

Of far greater importance to McCarthy than the committee's inconclusive final report was the adverse effect that the extensive exposure had on his popularity. Many in the audience saw him as bullying, reckless, and dishonest, and the daily newspaper summaries of the hearings were also frequently unfavorable.<ref>
{{cite book
  |last = Morgan
  |first = Ted
  |title = Reds: McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America
  |publisher = Random House
  |year=  2004
  |page = 489
  |isbn = 0-8129-7302-X}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book
  |last = Streitmatter
  |first = Rodger
  |title = Mightier Than the Sword: How the News Media Have Shaped American History
  |publisher = Westview Press
  |year = 1998
  |page = [https://archive.org/details/mightierthanswor00rodg/page/167 167]
  |isbn = 0-8133-3211-7
  |url = https://archive.org/details/mightierthanswor00rodg/page/167
  }}</ref> Late in the hearings, Senator [[Stuart Symington]] made an angry and prophetic remark to McCarthy. Upon being told by McCarthy that "You're not fooling anyone", Symington replied: "Senator, the American people have had a look at you now for six weeks; you're not fooling anyone, either."<ref>
 {{cite book
  |last = Powers
  |first = Richard Gid
  |title = Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism
  |publisher = Yale University Press
  |year=  1998
  |page = 271
  |isbn = 0-300-07470-0}}
</ref>

In [[Gallup polls]] of January 1954, 50% of those polled had a favorable opinion of McCarthy. In June, that number had fallen to 34%. In the same polls, those with a unfavorable opinion of McCarthy increased from 29% to 45%.<ref name="autogenerated138">
{{cite book
 |last = Fried
 |first = Richard M.
 |year = 1990
 |title = Nightmare in Red: The McCarthy Era in Perspective
 |publisher = Oxford University Press
 |page = 138
 |isbn = 0-19-504361-8}}</ref>

An increasing number of Republicans and conservatives were coming to see McCarthy as a liability to the party and to anti-communism. Representative [[George H. Bender]] noted, "There is a growing impatience with the Republican Party. McCarthyism has become a synonym for witch-hunting, [[Star Chamber]] methods, and the denial of&nbsp;... civil liberties."<ref>
{{cite book
  |last = Griffith
  |first = Robert
  |title = The Politics of Fear: Joseph R. McCarthy and the Senate
  |url = https://archive.org/details/politicsoffearjo00grif
  |url-access = registration
  |publisher = University of Massachusetts Press
  |year=  1970
  |page = [https://archive.org/details/politicsoffearjo00grif/page/264 264]
  |isbn = 0-87023-555-9}}</ref> [[Frederick Woltman]], a reporter with a long-standing reputation as a staunch anti-communist, wrote a five-part series of articles criticizing McCarthy in the ''[[New York World-Telegram]].'' He stated that McCarthy "has become a major liability to the cause of anti-communism", and accused him of "wild twisting of facts and near-facts [that] repels authorities in the field".<ref>
{{cite book
  |last = Cook
  |first = Fred J.
  |title = The Nightmare Decade: The Life and Times of Senator Joe McCarthy
  |publisher = Random House
  |year=  1971
  |page = 536
  |isbn = 0-394-46270-X}}</ref><ref>
{{cite magazine
  |title = About McCarthy
  |magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]
  |date=  July 19, 1954
|url = http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,857509,00.html
  |archive-url = https://archive.today/20130204083053/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,857509,00.html
  |url-status = dead
  |archive-date = February 4, 2013
|access-date =December 18, 2006}}</ref>

[[File:Welch-McCarthy-Hearings.jpg|thumb| [[Joseph N. Welch]] (left) being questioned by Senator McCarthy, June 9, 1954.]]
The most famous incident in the hearings was an exchange between McCarthy and the army's chief legal representative, [[Joseph N. Welch|Joseph Nye Welch]]. On June 9, 1954,<ref>{{cite web |title=June 9, 1954: "Have You No Sense of Decency?" |url=https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/investigations/mccarthy-hearings/have-you-no-sense-of-decency.htm |publisher=United States Senate |access-date=May 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513145200/https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/investigations/mccarthy-hearings/have-you-no-sense-of-decency.htm |archive-date=May 13, 2021}}</ref> the 30th day of the hearings, Welch challenged Roy Cohn to provide [[United States Attorney General|U.S. Attorney General]] [[Herbert Brownell Jr.]] with McCarthy's list of 130 Communists or subversives in defense plants "before the sun goes down". McCarthy stepped in and said that if Welch was so concerned about persons aiding the Communist Party, he should check on a man in his Boston law office named [[Fred Fisher (lawyer)|Fred Fisher]], who had once belonged to the [[National Lawyers Guild]], a progressive lawyers' association.<ref>
{{cite book
  |last = Oshinsky
  |first = David M.
  |title = A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy
  |publisher = Oxford University Press
  |year=  2005
  |page = 459
  |isbn = 0-19-515424-X
  |orig-year= 1983}}</ref>

In an impassioned defense of Fisher, Welch responded, "Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness&nbsp;..." When McCarthy resumed his attack, Welch interrupted him: "Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, Sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" When McCarthy once again persisted, Welch cut him off and demanded the chairman "call the next witness". At that point, the gallery erupted in applause and a recess was called.<ref>
{{cite book
  |last = Oshinsky
  |first = David M.
  |title = A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy
  |publisher = Oxford University Press
  |year=  2005
  |page = 464
  |isbn = 0-19-515424-X
  |orig-year= 1983}}</ref>{{anchor|Murrow|See It Now}}