Reticent Reds: HUAC, Hollywood, and the evolution of the Red Menace, 1935--1950

There is little doubt that Joseph McCarthy challenged the nation in the 1950's in a manner that nearly shattered America from within. The story behind his particular anticommunist campaign has often been overshadowed, however, by the exploits of the man and his mission to exorcize the so called "Red Menace." Although the most famous, Joseph McCarthy was certainly not America's first "red hunter" as the ground work for his crusade had been laid by over 30 years of congressional anticommunist activity. McCarthy certainly became the face of American anticommunism, but the travails of "Red Hunter Joe" do not represent the entire story.;The fear, the excitement, the energy, and the paranoia generated by the acts of McCarthy's predecessors and their anticommunist "committees" forced the nation to take notice and recognize what they, and the media agencies that publicized them, claimed to be a legitimate and potentially devastating threat to American security. The peril of Communism from within, according to men like Martin Dies, John Rankin, and J. Parnell Thomas, held the potential to destroy America's democratic foundation. This work is dedicated to tracing the evolution of the climate so critical to anticommunist campaign. Beginning in the late teens and climaxing with McCarthy in the early 1950's, the suppressive social tenor that fed paranoia blinded Americans to the un-American nature of the un-American campaign. Ultimately, it was the anticommunist energy surrounding its endeavor that allowed HUAC to overcome challenges to its legitimacy, as in the case with the Hollywood Ten, and carry on as the self-ordained vanguard in the fight against subversive activity. Although McCarthy would eventually fall in the mid 1950's, his demise provided little consolation for those unjustly targeted by his predecessors. Nevertheless, this work suggests that the actions of those who attempted to expose the unconstitutionality of the committee in the 1940's, specifically those targeted in Hollywood, ultimately contributed to a shift in American perspective, a shift that eventually translated into a climate amenable to much needed change.