Effect of McCarthyism

On February 9th of 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy was near the end of his first term and he needed something to spark the public to vote to re-elect him. Joseph McCarthy used this national stage to accuse over 200 people in the United States government of being communists. This created tension in the government not only because everyone was paranoid, but also because in 1938 the government created a anti-communist system and by accusing this many people in government of being communist it also accusing the government's system of failing and this created the time of McCarthyism. During this time very few people dared to stand up against McCarthy. A comedian named Mort Sahl and a journalist by the name of Edward Morrow stood up very strongly against McCarthy and played a big role in taking McCarthy out of power in 1954.