The Nature of the Cold War during the Truman and Eisenhower Administrations
             In the 1950's the fear of the cold war was felt in every home throughout America. Genuine fear was the feeling of the public. This fear was partially due to the government's way of informing the public of the threat of a cold war. Many key people in Washington played roles in informing the public of the cold war, but Senator Joseph R. McCarthy did more than any other individual to turn the fear of internal communism into national hysteria. This fear was felt not only in governmental situations but also in all social aspects of life. Union leaders had strict rules regarding internal communism and rumors of affiliation with the communist party was thoroughly investigated and regulated. The fear of communism consumed the American public in the 1950's and is still remembered by those who were affected.
             Joseph R. McCarthy quickly turned the fear of the cold war into a national hysteria. McCarthy had struggled through his first four-year term in office. He was looking for a winning reelection issue. The Truman administration had recently launched a campaign against subversion, by the communist victory in China and the successful explosion of an A-Bomb by the Soviet Union, the Hiss-Chambers confrontations, and the outbreak of war in Korea (pg. 50). This gave Joe McCarthy an issue that dominated the headlines and gave the Republican party a weapon to defeat the democrats. On February 9, 1950 McCarthy appeared before the Ohio County Women's Republican Club in Wheeling, Ohio. He followed the lead of his Republican partners, with the addition of some original rhetoric, when he blamed American reverses in the world not on the Soviet Union but on Democratic traitors (pg. 50). McCarthy claimed to have a list of 205 communist spies in Truman's State Department. He stated, "in my opinion the State Department, which is one of...