Editing Joseph McCarthy (section)

==Legacy==
[[William Bennett]], former [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan|Reagan Administration]] [[U.S. Secretary of Education|Secretary of Education]], summed up his perspective in his 2007 book ''America: The Last Best Hope'':

{{blockquote|The cause of anti-communism, which united millions of Americans and which gained the support of Democrats, Republicans and independents, was undermined by Sen. Joe McCarthy&nbsp;... McCarthy addressed a real problem: disloyal elements within the U.S. government. But his approach to this real problem was to cause untold grief to the country he claimed to love&nbsp;... ¨Best¨ of all, McCarthy besmirched the honorable cause of anti-communism. He discredited legitimate efforts to counter Soviet subversion of American institutions.<ref>{{cite web|last=Thomma|first=Steven|title=Not satisfied with U.S. history, some conservatives rewrite it|publisher=[[The McClatchy Company|McClatchy Newspapers]]|date=April 1, 2010|url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/01/91478/some-right-wingers-ignore-facts.html?storylink=MI_emailed|access-date=April 1, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100402053657/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/01/91478/some-right-wingers-ignore-facts.html?storylink=MI_emailed|archive-date=April 2, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref>}}

===House Un-American Activities Committee===
McCarthy's hearings are often incorrectly conflated with the hearings of the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] (HUAC). HUAC is best known for its investigations of [[Alger Hiss]] and the [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood film industry]], which led to the [[Hollywood blacklist|blacklisting]] of hundreds of actors, writers, and directors. HUAC was a House committee, and as such it had no formal connection to McCarthy, who served in the Senate, although the existence of the House Un-American Activities Committee thrived in part as a result of McCarthy's activities. HUAC was active for 37 years (1938–1975).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/house-un-american-activities-committee.html |title=House Un-American Activities Committee |publisher=infoplease.com |access-date=January 17, 2017 |archive-date=January 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118053003/http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/house-un-american-activities-committee.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===In popular culture===
From the start of his notoriety, McCarthy served as a favorite subject for political cartoonists. He was traditionally depicted in a negative light, normally pertaining to McCarthyism and his accusations. [[Herblock]]'s cartoon that coined the term ''McCarthyism'' appeared less than two months after the senator's now famous February 1950 speech in [[Wheeling, West Virginia]].

In 1951, [[Ray Bradbury]] published "The Fireman", an allegory on suppression of ideas. This served as the basis for ''[[Fahrenheit 451]]'' published in 1953.<ref>{{cite web|author=A Bruin Birthday Tribute To Ray Bradbury Tweet|url=http://www.spotlight.ucla.edu/ray-bradbury/|title=First Spark: Ray Bradbury Turns 90; The Universe and UCLA Academy Celebrate|publisher=Spotlight.ucla.edu|date=August 22, 2010|access-date=September 30, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005161805/http://www.spotlight.ucla.edu/ray-bradbury/|archive-date=October 5, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first1=Issac |last1=Asimov |first2=Ray |last2=Bradbury |first3=John W. |last3=Campbell |others=Narrated by Norman Rose |title=Ticket to the Moon (tribute to SciFi) |date=December 4, 1956 |work=Biography in Sound |publisher=NBC Radio News |url=https://oldradioprograms.us/My%20Old%20Radio%20Shows/B/Biographies%20In%20Sound/Biographies%20In%20Sound%20(NBC)-1956-12-04-Ticket%20To%20The%20Moon%20-%20Tribute%20To%20Scifi.mp3 |format=mp3 |access-date=February 2, 2017 |at=27:10–27:30 |quote=I wrote this book at a time when I was worried about the way things were going in this country four years ago. Too many people were afraid of their shadows; there was a threat of book burning. Many of the books were being taken off the shelves at that time. |archive-date=February 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209110704/https://oldradioprograms.us/My%20Old%20Radio%20Shows/B/Biographies%20In%20Sound/Biographies%20In%20Sound%20(NBC)-1956-12-04-Ticket%20To%20The%20Moon%20-%20Tribute%20To%20Scifi.mp3 |url-status=live }}</ref> Bradbury said that he wrote ''Fahrenheit 451'' because of his concerns at the time (during the [[McCarthyism|McCarthy era]]) about the threat of book burning in the United States.<ref name=LAweekly>{{cite web|title=Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 Misinterpreted|last=Johnston|first=Amy E. Boyle|date=May 30, 2007|work=LA Weekly website|url=http://www.laweekly.com/2007-05-31/news/ray-bradbury-fahrenheit-451-misinterpreted/full|access-date=August 3, 2013|archive-date=September 2, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902154602/http://www.laweekly.com/2007-05-31/news/ray-bradbury-fahrenheit-451-misinterpreted/full/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Bob Hope]] was one of the first comedians to make jokes about McCarthy. During his 1952 Christmas show, Hope made a joke about [[Santa Claus]] writing to let Joe McCarthy know he was going to wear his red suit despite the Red Scare. Hope continued to offer McCarthy jokes as they were well received by most people, although he did receive some hate mail.

In 1953, the popular daily comic strip ''[[Pogo (comics)|Pogo]]'' introduced the character [[Pogo (comics)#Simple J. Malarkey|Simple J. Malarkey]], a pugnacious and conniving [[wildcat]] with an unmistakable physical resemblance to McCarthy. After a worried [[Rhode Island]] newspaper editor protested to the syndicate that provided the strip, creator [[Walt Kelly]] began depicting the Malarkey character with a bag over his head, concealing his features. The explanation was that Malarkey was hiding from a [[Rhode Island Red]] hen, a clear reference to the controversy over the Malarkey character.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/possums/ga_pogo.htm |title=Georgia State 'Possum |date=September 18, 2014 |website=Netstate.com |access-date=December 22, 2014 |archive-date=April 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403164640/http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/possums/ga_pogo.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1953, playwright [[Arthur Miller]] published ''[[The Crucible]]'', suggesting the [[Salem witch trials]] were analogous to McCarthyism.<ref name=blakesleym>Blakesley (1992, xv).</ref>

As his fame grew, McCarthy increasingly became the target of ridicule and parody. He was impersonated by nightclub and radio [[Impressionist (entertainment)|impressionists]] and was satirized in ''[[Mad (magazine)|Mad]]'' magazine, on ''[[The Red Skelton Show]]'', and elsewhere. Several comedy songs lampooning the senator were released in 1954, including "Point of Order" by [[Stan Freberg]] and [[Daws Butler]], "Senator McCarthy Blues" by [[Hal Block]], and unionist folk singer [[Joe Glazer]]'s "Joe McCarthy's Band", sung to the tune of "[[McNamara's Band]]". Also in 1954, the radio comedy team [[Bob and Ray]] parodied McCarthy with the character "Commissioner Carstairs" in their soap opera spoof "Mary Backstayge, Noble Wife". That same year, the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] radio network broadcast a satire, ''[[The Investigator]]'', whose title character was a clear imitation of McCarthy. A recording of the show became popular in the United States, and was reportedly played by President Eisenhower at cabinet meetings.<ref>{{cite book| first = Thomas| last = Doherty| title= Cold War, Cool Medium: Television, McCarthyism, and American Culture| url = https://archive.org/details/coldwarcoolmediu00dohe| url-access = registration| publisher= Columbia University Press| page = [https://archive.org/details/coldwarcoolmediu00dohe/page/213 213]| year= 2005| isbn= 978-0-231-12953-4}}</ref> The 1953 short story ''Mr. Costello, Hero'' by [[Theodore Sturgeon]] was described by journalist [[Paul Williams (Crawdaddy)|Paul Williams]] as "the all-time great story about Senator Joseph McCarthy, who he was and how he did what he did."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theodoresturgeontrust.com/williams.html|title=Theodore Sturgeon, Storyteller|last=Williams|first=Paul|date=1976|access-date=February 28, 2016|archive-date=March 13, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313073810/http://www.theodoresturgeontrust.com/williams.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Post-censure reaction====
''Mr. Costello, Hero'' was adapted by [[X Minus One]] into a radio teleplay and broadcast on July 3, 1956.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mr Costello Hero {{!}} X Minus One |url=https://archive.org/download/OTRR_X_Minus_One_Singles/XMinusOne56-07-03058MrCostelloHero.mp3|language=en|access-date=May 25, 2020}}</ref> While the radio adaptation retains much of the story, it completely remakes the narrator and in fact gives him a line spoken in the original by Mr. Costello himself, thus changing the tone of the story considerably. In a 1977 interview, Sturgeon commented that it was his concerns about the ongoing McCarthy hearings that prompted him to write the story.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Saucer of Loneliness|editor=Paul Williams|publisher=North Atlantic Books|location=Berkeley|date=2000|volume=VII: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon|pages=384–385|isbn=1-55643-424-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=amWBa48lb6AC&q=%22a+saucer+of+loneliness%22|access-date=February 28, 2016}}</ref>

A more serious fictional portrayal of McCarthy played a central role in the 1959 novel ''[[The Manchurian Candidate]]'' by [[Richard Condon]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=  Welsh|first1=James Michael |last2= Lev |first2=Peter |date=2007 |title=The Literature/film Reader: Issues of Adaptation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1alUlyaDUbcC&q=%22the+manchurian+candidate%22+novel+mccarthy+iselin&pg=PA205 |location=Plymouth, UK|publisher=Scarecrow Press |page=205 |isbn=978-0-8108-5949-4}}</ref> The character of Senator John Iselin, a [[demagogy|demagogic]] anti-communist, is closely modeled on McCarthy, even to the varying numbers of Communists he asserts are employed by the federal government.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Sachleben |first1=Mark |last2= Yenerall |first2=Kevan M. |date=2008 |title=Seeing the Bigger Picture: Understanding Politics Through Film & Television |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qR5ov7nKF_sC&q=%22the+manchurian+candidate%22+mccarthy+iselin+varying+numbers+communists&pg=PA64 |location=New York |publisher=Peter Lang Publishing |page=64 |isbn=978-0-8204-7144-0}}</ref> He remains a major character in the [[The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film)|1962 film version]].<ref>{{cite book |last= DiMare |first=Philip C. |date=2011 |title=Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=miascUWIa0UC&q=%22the+manchurian+candidate%22+mccarthy+iselin+james+gregory&pg=PA325 |location=Santa Barbara |publisher=ABC-CLIO, Inc. |page=325 |isbn=978-1-59884-296-8}}</ref>

The 1959 novel ''[[Advise and Consent]]'' by [[Allen Drury]] features an overzealous demagogue, Senator Fred Van Ackerman, based on McCarthy. Although the fictional senator is an ultraliberal who proposes surrender to the Soviet Union, his portrayal strongly resembles the popular perception of McCarthy's character and methods.

McCarthy was portrayed by [[Peter Boyle]] in the 1977 Emmy-winning television movie ''[[Tail Gunner Joe]]'', a dramatization of McCarthy's life.<ref>{{cite news |first=Stephen |last=Miller |title=Peter Boyle, 71, Character Actor Played Psychotics and Monsters |work=New York Sun |date=December 14, 2006 |url=http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/peter-boyle-71-character-actor-played-psychotics/45138/ |access-date=December 22, 2014 |archive-date=January 28, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128212536/http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/peter-boyle-71-character-actor-played-psychotics/45138/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was portrayed by [[Joe Don Baker]] in the 1992 HBO film ''[[Citizen Cohn]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title='Citizen' Woods: James Woods Rips Roy Cohn, the Press and His Own Image |work=Los Angeles Times |date=August 16, 1992 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-08-16-tv-6474-story.html |access-date=February 18, 2020 |archive-date=January 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108204947/http://articles.latimes.com/1992-08-16/news/tv-6474_1_citizen-cohn |url-status=live }}</ref> Archival footage of McCarthy himself was used in the 2005 film ''[[Good Night, and Good Luck]]'' about Edward R. Murrow and the ''See It Now'' episode that challenged McCarthy.<ref>{{cite news |first=Mick |last=LaSalle |title=Newsman Challenges a Powerful Politician |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=October 7, 2005 |url=http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Newsman-challenges-a-powerful-politician-2565905.php |access-date=December 22, 2014 |archive-date=January 28, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128222704/http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Newsman-challenges-a-powerful-politician-2565905.php |url-status=live }}</ref> <!--Please don't add mention of the unsubstantiated (though widely reported) rumor that test audiences felt that the "performer" who "played" McCarthy was overacting in the absence of a well-documented and/or first-hand account of where and when such a reaction actually occurred.--> In the German-French docu-drama ''The Real American – Joe McCarthy'' (2012), directed by [[Lutz Hachmeister]], McCarthy is portrayed by the British actor and comedian [[John Sessions]].<ref>Dorothy Rabinowitz. "A Name That Lives in Infamy", ''Wall Street Journal'', 23. November 2012</ref> In [[Lee Daniels]]' 2020 film, ''[[The United States vs. Billie Holiday]]'', McCarthy is portrayed by actor [[Randy Davison]].
<!--Please don't add a note about Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" here. It's relevant to McCarthyism rather than Joseph McCarthy, and it is already mentioned in the McCarthyism article.  -->

[[R.E.M.]]'s song "Exhuming McCarthy", from their 1987 album ''[[Document (album)|Document]]'', deals largely with McCarthy and contains sound clips from the [[Army-McCarthy Hearings]].

'Joe' McCarthy is also mentioned in [[Billy Joel]]'s 1989 song "[[We Didn't Start the Fire]]".

McCarthyism is one of the subjects of [[Barbara Kingsolver]]'s novel ''[[The Lacuna]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-lacuna-by-barbara-kingsolver-1819457.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220617/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-lacuna-by-barbara-kingsolver-1819457.html |archive-date=June 17, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=The Lacuna, By Barbara Kingsolver|date=November 13, 2009|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=February 13, 2017|language=en-GB}}</ref>

McCarthy is a secondary character in the Showtime television drama ''[[Fellow Travelers (miniseries)|Fellow Travelers]]''.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/11/06/fellow-travelers-tv-review-showtime|title="Fellow Travelers" Shows Another Side of Gay History|first=Inkoo|last=Kang|magazine=The New Yorker |date=October 27, 2023|via=www.newyorker.com|access-date=November 5, 2023|archive-date=November 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104193626/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/11/06/fellow-travelers-tv-review-showtime|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Reconsideration ===
McCarthy remains a controversial figure. [[Arthur L. Herman|Arthur Herman]], popular historian and senior fellow of the [[Hudson Institute]], says that new evidence—in the form of [[Venona project|Venona]]-decrypted Soviet messages, Soviet espionage data now opened to the West, and newly released transcripts of closed hearings before McCarthy's subcommittee—has partially vindicated McCarthy by showing that some of his identifications of Communists were correct and the scale of Soviet espionage activities in the United States during the 1940s and 1950s was larger than many scholars had suspected.<ref>{{cite book|last = Herman
  |first = Arthur
  |title = Joseph McCarthy: Reexamining the Life and Legacy of America's Most Hated Senator
  |publisher = Free Press
  |year = 2000
  |pages = [https://archive.org/details/josephmccarthyre00herm/page/5 5–6]
  |isbn = 0-684-83625-4
  |url = https://archive.org/details/josephmccarthyre00herm/page/5
  }}</ref>

In [[Blacklisted by History|''Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies'']], journalist [[M. Stanton Evans]] similarly argued that evidence from the Venona documents shows significant penetration by Soviet agents.<ref name="Evans 2009 p.">{{cite book | last=Evans | first=M. Stanton | authorlink=M. Stanton Evans|title=Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies | publisher=Three Rivers Press | location=New York| year=2009 | isbn=978-1-4000-8106-6 }}</ref>

Historian [[John Earl Haynes]], who studied the Venona decryptions extensively, challenged Herman's efforts to rehabilitate McCarthy, arguing that McCarthy's attempts to "make anti-communism a partisan weapon" actually "threatened [the post-War] anti-Communist consensus", thereby ultimately harming anti-Communist efforts more than helping them.<ref>{{cite web
  |last = Haynes
  |first = John Earl
  |title = Exchange with Arthur Herman and Venona book talk
  |date = February 2000
  |url = http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page58.html
  |access-date = July 11, 2007
|archive-date = February 24, 2021
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210224175005/http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page58.html
  |url-status = live
  }}</ref> Haynes concluded that, of the 159 people who were identified on lists used or referenced by McCarthy, evidence only substantially proved that nine of them had aided Soviet espionage efforts—while several hundred Soviet spies who were actually known based on Venona and other evidence were mostly never named by McCarthy. Haynes' own view was that a number of those accused on McCarthy's lists above, perhaps a majority, likely posed some form of possible security risk, but a significant minority of others likely did not, and several were indisputably no risk at all.<ref name="johnearlhaynes62">{{cite web|url=http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page62.html|title=Senator Joseph McCarthy's Lists and Venona|last=Haynes|first=John Earl|year=2006|access-date=August 31, 2006|archive-date=May 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502132728/http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page62.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book
 |first1 = John Earl
 |last1=Haynes
 |first2=Harvey
|last2=Klehr
  |year = 2000
 |title = Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America
 |publisher = [[Yale University Press]]
 |location=New Haven, Connecticut
 |isbn = 0-300-08462-5
}}</ref>