Past and Present
Past and present
McCarthyism affected the lives and political thinking of people in the U.S. during the 1950’s. With the Soviets declaring their intentions of exporting revolution throughout the world, McCarthyism effectively used the fear and hatred Americans had of communism in order to manipulate the American public and sway political decisions. After America learned, from Britain, that Klaus Fuchs, had spied for the Russians while working on the Manhattan Project, Senator McCarthy claimed that there were communists within the State Department (Rockwell, 2004). He used the thought of espionage and conspiracy as a scare tactic against the American people. McCarthy lied to the American public and made false claims against U.S. government officials. America as a society was confused, fearful and angry, about communism, espionage, and conspiracy. Their decision-making wasn’t rational and McCarthy fed off of this and used it to his
advantage. “Most people thought that communists were worse than murderers” (Mack, 2002). McCarthy used this as a tool to manipulate the American public into agreeing with him and his policies even-though it caused panic fear throughout the nation.
The U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War during the 1960’s was a significant event in U.S. history. The United States became involved in Vietnam because American policymakers believed that if the entire country fell under a Communist government, Communism would spread throughout Southeast Asia (Atwood, N.D.). In order to keep an abundant amount of U.S. troops in Vietnam, the U.S. government implemented the use of the Selective Service Draft. At the age of 18, every male in America had to register for the draft and this brought on an uprising of student unrest across the county. The draft had been used in previous wars but changes to the draft caused controversy and unrest. If the draftee were a college student, they could receive a deferment and would be able to
McCarthyism affected the lives and political thinking of people in the U.S. during the 1950’s. With the Soviets declaring their intentions of exporting revolution throughout the world, McCarthyism effectively used the fear and hatred Americans had of communism in order to manipulate the American public and sway political decisions. After America learned, from Britain, that Klaus Fuchs, had spied for the Russians while working on the Manhattan Project, Senator McCarthy claimed that there were communists within the State Department (Rockwell, 2004). He used the thought of espionage and conspiracy as a scare tactic against the American people. McCarthy lied to the American public and made false claims against U.S. government officials. America as a society was confused, fearful and angry, about communism, espionage, and conspiracy. Their decision-making wasn’t rational and McCarthy fed off of this and used it to his
advantage. “Most people thought that communists were worse than murderers” (Mack, 2002). McCarthy used this as a tool to manipulate the American public into agreeing with him and his policies even-though it caused panic fear throughout the nation.
The U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War during the 1960’s was a significant event in U.S. history. The United States became involved in Vietnam because American policymakers believed that if the entire country fell under a Communist government, Communism would spread throughout Southeast Asia (Atwood, N.D.). In order to keep an abundant amount of U.S. troops in Vietnam, the U.S. government implemented the use of the Selective Service Draft. At the age of 18, every male in America had to register for the draft and this brought on an uprising of student unrest across the county. The draft had been used in previous wars but changes to the draft caused controversy and unrest. If the draftee were a college student, they could receive a deferment and would be able to
References: Atwood, P. (N.D.) Vietnam War. Retrieved January 18, 2010, from http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761552642/Vietnam_War.html Bexte, M Davidson, Gienapp, Heyrman, Lytle, & Stoff. (2005). The Vietnam Era. Retrieved January 20 2010, from Axia College, Week five reading, aXcess, HIS135-The American Experience Since 1945 Course. Evans, N (2002) The Watergate Scandal. Retrieved January 21, 2010 from http://www.essortment.com/all/watergatescand_reji.htm Mack, B (2002) The Red Scare: McCarthyism. Retrieved January 24, 2010, from http://www.essortment.com/all/mccarthyismred_rmfw.htm N.A Niskanen, W. (1988) Reaganomics. Retrieved January 24, 2010, from http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc1/Reaganomics.html Rockwell, K (2004) Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Communist Red Scare Van Braekel, L. (July 20, 2005) Reaganomics, a Success Story. Retrieved January 24, 2010, from http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/92