Appachian State University
Dr. Mueller
Com 1200
11/15/2022
Margaret Chase Smith
Margaret Chase Smith was one of a handful of Representatives to enter office due to the death of a spouse – as she did in 1941, and then go on to be a very popular politician in her own right for the next 30 years. Until 2011, she held the record as longest-serving female Senator, was the first woman to be elected to both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and in 1964 also the first woman to be nominated by her party for the Presidency.
She delivered her Declaration of Conscious speech in 1950 after another in a long string of Democratic Presidential victories, an election Republicans had been losing since 1933. WWII ended only five years earlier, and the existential fear in America was that a communist country would gain nuclear capabilities and not be afraid to use it. In 1949 Russia developed that capability, the same year that China, the most populous country on the planet, fell to communism. Several high-profile spy cases through the 1940s made clear that communist countries were trying to gain the capabilities and advancements of the United States, much as China and Russia today steal data and intellectual property by corporate espionage and cyberhacking.
The target of Smith’s speech was McCarthyism and the second “Red Scare” in the U.S. The first was after WWI, which likewise targeted Jewish Socialist and Communist organizations resulting in the 1939 Hatch Act that criminalized association with these organizations as subversive. McCarthy whipped up the second Red Scare in early 1950 by famously holding papers he said was a list of communists in the Democratic State Department. His goal was twofold, to garner personal attention gaining political power, but also to create scapegoats to help portray the Republican party as tough on communism while Democrats were soft – or worse, Communist spies and sympathizers.
Smith gave her speech only months after McCarthy made his State Department accusation. Both were junior Senators, although Smith had been a House Representative for 10 years. To anyone paying attention, confidence in McCarthy’s accusations were low because when pressed by reporters on his supposed list, the number of accused was wildly inconsistent – first 205, later 57. Nonetheless, nobody dared oppose McCarthy so as not to be accused of siding with communists. Smith asked to see the documents, and when produced, found they contained no relevance to the charges. She said in her speech that it was “strange” Senators could harshly accuse and persecute any American in a way that would be considered out of bounds if directed at another Senator. She noted the Senate should remember to uphold the constitutional right to a trial by jury and not allow a “trial by accusation.”
Smith, always an independent thinker, saw through McCarthy’s scheme of redbaiting and declared it the wrong way to go about gaining political influence, “riding to victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny – Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry and Smear,” a phrase that succinctly encapsulates the methods eventually termed “McCarthyism.” In her speech, Smith instead hoped to bolster the Republican party’s great leadership potential and endear herself to her party by harking all the way back to the Civil War, perhaps conveniently forgetting that political party ideology had flipped since then. She also claimed the current Democratic administration was ineffective and repeated the term “loose spending” to paint Democratic establishment of a long list of popular social infrastructure successes such as Social Security, FDIC banking insurance and mortgage lending as a fault.
Most McCarthy cases were association attacks, and touted actual evidence was rarely undeniable. But 12 thousand people lost their jobs and hundreds were imprisoned. Smith’s speech was a blow to McCarthy, but not an effective one, and lost its impact entirely when only months later national attention was diverted by the start of the Korean war. McCarthy ridiculed Smith and the six co-signers to her speech, and was effective at removing her from the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. McCarthy’s supporters then took every opportunity to smear Smith, while McCarthy continued his campaign for another four years.
The Republican party is today similarly scapegoating their political losses by broadly targeting America’s voting system, claiming Democrats are manipulating it. As with McCarthy, there is much accusation and ridicule, but no evidence. Republicans nonetheless continue to rally their followers to believe elections are “stolen” by Democrats. The tactic is making a significant impact dividing the county, and has even become a term used in the news like McCarthyism: “the Big Lie.” An overwhelming majority of Republicans – up to 80% in some polls, are certain that the 2020 Presidential election was fraudulent, despite two years of exhaustive effort that produced no evidence supporting the claim.
During the Red Scares, the scare was U.S. citizens would leak classified information and capabilities to adversaries, a legitimate concern. Today, Republicans are inventing ever more unlikely conspiracy theories for the purpose of sowing doubt over elections they lose. The long game is to create reasons to change election laws to favor the Republican party. Before, personal lives were ruined by insinuation and conspiracy theories. Today, the scheme to disenfranchise Democratic voters could potentially invalidate the voting system that enables representative government to function.
In the 1990s, Newt Gingrich uncorked the genie’s bottle by vilifying and sabotaging the opposing party with scorched-earth rhetoric and policies, and Republicans have maintained this approach, reminiscent of McCarthy’s steadfast belligerence. And belligerence turns out to play well to right-leaning voters indoctrinated to revere it by their media and news sources, where they are fed a relentless diet of fear, bigotry and smear, and also instructed to be ignorant, to disbelieve anything but right-leaning “news” and politicians.
The U.S. is long overdue for a defining “Have you no shame?” moment to change course, but despite numerous instances of obvious and easily disproved Republican lies, hypocritical self-dealing, and a clear agenda to confuse and divide Americans, nothing has stuck. The antagonist is a very vocal, rich and powerful political minority that hasn’t won the popular vote since 2004. But they employ a surprisingly successful tactic of personal attack and never admitting shame or error. Even the televised attempt to subvert the 2020 presidential election, where top leaders narrowly escaped assault by an armed mob, did not result in a decisive political reckoning, similar to Smith’s brave but initially dispiriting experience with McCarthy. Nearly five years later, at the end of 1955, she voted with the majority to censure McCarthy, which finally ended his rampage.
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Outline
Introduce Smith
Political climate
Red Scare history
Smith tries bolstering Republicans
Smith sees McCarthy as wrong tactic of influence
McCarthy continues despite speech
Current Republican attack
Implications of current attack
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Margaret Chase Smith “did what she had to do…despite who she was saying it to.”
Cancel culture? Is it new? Not really, check out Joseph McCarthy and who he was doing it to.
Consider our political parties today. And what society does through social media. Cancel could happen, to me or to you.
Put yourself in context. Envision the year, envision the setting for this famous Senate speech. Note the political players.
Realize the fear. The danger.
For this assignment, develop and present one well written summary. Be sure to:
1) conduct research to set the proper context. Understand the characters, events and actions being taken.
2) define the author
3) set the context with the key issue and actors.
Smith, MCarthy, Truman.
1950, communist/Russia/China containment under way, Korean War begins. There are cases of spies – some not so sure.
Both Smith and McCarthy are new Senators. Democrats have been in power for over 20 years.
4) fully explicate one key argument.
5) include an example the author gives to support that argument
6) Reference a modern news report that demonstrates similar actions, today.
Today the Republicans are broadly targeting America’s voting system as if Democrats are rigging them. Again, with no evidence, they are whipping up their base to believe that elections are essentially decided on the whims of Democrats. And it’s working. An overwhelming majority of Republicans – up to 80% in some polls, are certain that the 2020 presidential election was won fraudulently, despite no evidence after two years of exhaustive effort. In some cases, revisions after recounts resulted in an even better Democratic lead.
Before, the scare was U.S. citizens would leak classified documents to adversaries, and now Republicans are fomenting ever more unlikely conspiracy theories of vast vote tampering, which is a movement to invalidate the voting system. Before, they ruined personal lives by insinuation and conspiracy theories, now they aim to destroy the bedrock of the American system of government where everyone agrees to abide by the results of popular elections. When one group will not agree to the rules, there can be no functional government.
She wrote: “I doubt if the Republican Party could – simply because I don’t believe the American people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest.”
How far we’ve come….at this time there is a strong minority party willing to do just that, who have stated in polls a willingness and sense of duty to political violence to achieve their goals.
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See below, prompt questions to assist in your writing outline:
Who was Margaret Chase Smith?
What was the context of politics and derision in 1950, regarding the comments “trial by accusation?”
Who was the president she was speaking to? Truman
What is the major division in the country that Ms. Smith is addressing?
What is the Four Horsemen of Calumny? Research, frame this in context.
This is exactly the Republican playbook:
Fear: the majority of right-wing press and talking points promote fear that liberals are out to destroy the government, and “their way of life.”
Ignorance: in policy issues that require technical knowledge, such as climate change and even infectious diseases, Republicans routinely denounce experts when their conclusions run counter to Republican goals. It’s even in the language – “democrat elites,” understood to be educated people telling less educated people what to do.
Bigotry: The Republican party has been race-baiting their constituents since at least the 1970s, and are getting more brazen about it.
Smear: Comparing media references, a neutral or liberal leaning news story might say a Repulican’s proposals are wasteful, lack data, or favors the rich. A right-leaning story typically goes straight to character attack, and attacks on groups of people. Gingrich recommended describing Democrats as “sick, traitors, [and] corrupt.” He admitted, privately to allies, that his strategy was to depict Democrats as “the enemy of normal Americans,” calling the Clintons “left-wing elitists.”
Define the Declaration of Conscience as proposed by Ms. Smith. In your concluding paragraph, compare her declaration to today’s current social environment. What practical application can you offer to your readers?
Then as now, a minority party is whipping up energy and creating a scapegoat. The win in Smith’s time was to rout potential spies from government positions. And when he could find none he moved on to average citizens in “influential” industries – mainly, entertainment. Today the win is to sow confusion over voter practices for the purpose of gaining an edge for the Republican minority political party. And it’s largely working. With the aid of a vast complicit right-wing media landscape that have excelled at gaining attention and adherents through fear-mongering tactics, the party evenly splits the government but not the population.
A recent Senator said at a rally that when he wins, N Dakota will never elect another Democrat. Incriminating statements such as this are usually unearthed in grainy open-mike type incidents. But Republican politicians are now comfortable declaring their dedication to autocracy and rigging the system – as is so often the case, doing what they accuse the dastardly other side of doing, which they are not.
We need a defining “Have you no shame” moment to change course, but have not been able to make one stick, when a very vocal and powerful minority employ the tactic of no shame, never admitting when wrong. Even the televised attempt to subvert the 2020 presidential election, where the vice-president and senators narrowly escaped assault by an armed mob, did not result in a moment of political reckoning. Republicans have relied on steady belligerence and denial to defend the indefensible. And belligerence plays well to right-leaning voters instructed to believe it by their media sources.
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McCarthy rose suddenly to national fame in February 1950, when he asserted in a speech that he had a list of “members of the Communist Party and members of a spy ring”
Smith’s speech was pretty soon after this.
Both were freshmen senators, though Smith had been in the House of Representatives for nearly ten years.
The number imprisoned is in the hundreds, and some ten or twelve thousand lost their jobs.
Truman’s loyalty program resulted in the discovery of only a few employees whose loyalty could be “reasonably” doubted. Nevertheless, for a time his order did quiet some of the criticism that his administration was “soft” on communism. Matters changed dramatically in 1949-1950. The Soviets developed an atomic bomb, China fell to the communists, and Senator Joseph McCarthy made the famous speech in which he declared that there were over 200 “known communists” in the Department of State.
On March 21st, 1947, Truman signed Executive Order 9835, the “Loyalty Order,” requiring screenings and investigations of employees of the government that were meant to prove their loyalty to democracy and expose those who presented a threat. The Loyalty Order “led to the conviction and sentencing of communist spies but also threatened innocent people with unfashionable political affiliations”
U.S.-Soviet relations and the start of the Cold War (1946-1991). The president adopted a policy of containment toward Soviet expansion and the spread of communism.
On the home front, Truman was faced with the challenge of transitioning America to a peacetime economy. Amid labor disputes, a shortage of consumer goods and a national railroad strike, he saw his approval ratings plummet.
1949; his inauguration was the first to be nationally televised. The president set forth an ambitious social reform agenda, known as the Fair Deal, which included national medical insurance, federal housing programs, a higher minimum wage, assistance for farmers, repeal of the Taft-Hartley labor act, increases in Social Security and civil rights reforms.
Truman’s proposals were largely blocked by conservatives in Congress;
he had some legislative successes, such as the Housing Act of 1949, and also issued executive orders (at the end of his first term) to end segregation in the U.S. armed forces and to prohibit discrimination in federal government jobs.
The threat of communism continued to be a major focus of Truman’s second administration.
The president supported the creation in 1949 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a military alliance of democratic nations, including the United States, Canada, France, the United Kingdom and eight other countries, and appointed Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969) as its first commander.
During his second term, Truman had to contend with unproven accusations made by U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy (1908-1957) of Wisconsin that the president’s administration and the U.S. State Department, among other organizations, had been infiltrated by communist spies.
Leading up to speech: Throughout the spring of 1950, McCarthy made unsubstantiated allegations before a Senate investigatory committee against government officials—many of whom were Democrats—and others, including professors and workers affiliated with the United Nations.
She criticizes the Truman administration for being complacent in its fight against communism.
But they are active in fighting communism – start NATO, etc.
She argues that the Republicans must fight against the reckless spending and useless social programs put in place by a Democratic administration. These are all programs that are widely popular and still in effect. Kind of a dog whistle I think to rally the troops.
She argues that the recent high-profile spy cases are evidence showing voters that the Democrats are not keeping the country safe. But is she right?
- The Democrats created this confusion by issuing contradictory statements—a mixture of dire warnings and complacent optimism—about the threat of communism in the United States. Is this true?
- Members of both parties have, through thoughtless partisanship, fallen prey to “the Communist design of ‘confuse, divide, and conquer.” Really, both?
The impact of Smith’s speech quickly faded, in part because just a few weeks later communist forces from North Korea invaded South Korea, and the Cold War suddenly became hot.
The Korean conflict gave the Truman administration an opportunity to show it could get tough on communism.
He subpoenaed witnesses to interrogate them about their political affiliations, often using wild rhetoric and never providing concrete evidence to support his claims. Despite McCarthy’s efforts he never found proof that the federal government had been infiltrated by communists.
In 1952 she was considered as a vice presidential candidate.