Run, Tail-Gunner Joe, Run...
A reoccurring issue or theme on these threads is whether or not McCarthy ruined or attempted to ruin the lives of people he accused of being communists, spies, sympathizers, etc. Of course, whether he did or did not ruin the lives or attempt to ruin the lives of some of the hundreds of people he accused or labeled a communist, etc. is just one area to explore regarding McCarthy. Another is the fact that he lied, embellished and lacked credible evidence, on many occasions, with respect to providing the evidence he claimed he possessed. He also mischaracterized and mislabeled people when he, in fact, did not have the irrefutable evidence to support those labels or claims.
Clearly, a definition of “ruined” is in order. ‘Ruined,’ in this writer’s opinion, does not necessarily need be confined to a permanent condition (as in destitution or suicide). To suggest that McCarthy did not ruin or attempt to ruin a person’s life if his slanderous charges, supported by lies or the embellishment of facts, affected that person’s reputation would be preposterous. In some cases, McCarthy’s accusations and labels---based on incomplete factual information and/or the embellishment of facts or statistics---caused people severe hardship, whether it was the loss of a job and/or the denial of employment for a long or short period of time. It may also have caused illness; not to mention the mental and physical anguish some of these innocent people must have suffered. However, this is not to say that everyone McCarthy accused was innocent; far from it. There were clearly communists working in the government. Many of the people McCarthy accused and investigated were in the process of or had been investigated by more competent professionals. This is important because, ultimately, the most significant question to examine is whether McCarthy used incorrect or misinformation, or embellished or lied to support his accusations. The answer to this question is undoubtedly yes.
It is important for anyone seriously interested in the topic of McCarthy’s either ruining lives or attempts to ruin lives to read the transcripts and newspaper accounts of the hearings and/or examinations (and the important aftermath) directed by McCarthy and his associates. About ten years ago, the Senate released five volumes that contained thousands of pages of transcripts from McCarthy’s closed-door, secret, anti-communist hearings. They are fascinating. Roughly 400 Americans were questioned---some would say interrogated---in mostly secret hearings, facing accusations, based sometimes on highly questionable evidence, from McCarthy and his staff about their involvement in communist activities.
Rather than type entire sections of testimony, I would suggest you read the stories and examine the people who were called to testify in these hearings. Some of these people were certainly “ruined” under the definition I provided above. They lost their job or the opportunity of future employment, etc. Some were famous; many were ordinary citizens, including teachers, doctors, etc. In ’46, in a closed hearing, a NYC teacher could not provide complete answers, according to McCarthy’s demands. In the transcript, McCarthy concluded that the teacher would therefore be discharged from his teaching job. (He was later discharged.) Then he adds, “I assume [gives name of wife] will be discharged too.” Now the wife had not been charged with any wrongdoing or aiding any communist. She was simply married to a man who was charged with “knowing” a communist.
I was surprised to find the following McCarthy statement in the transcripts, “You have what appears to be one of the longest communist-front records of any one we have had here," directed at Aaron Copland. Copland responded, “I spend my days writing symphonies, concertos, ballads, and I am not a political thinker.” (Please also refer to Red Channels, which appears later in this essay.) Copland had no political party affiliation. But a diehard communist sympathizer? I learned that Copland's beautiful "Lincoln Portrait," scheduled to be performed at Eisenhower's first inaugural in '53, was pulled because he was called "a Communist." Summoned before McCarthy, he answered the questions...
Cohn: Do you feel Communists should be allowed to teach in our schools?
Copland: I haven't given the matter such thought as to come up with answer... I would be inclined to allow the faculty of the University to decide that.
McCarthy: Let's say you are on the faculty... would you feel Communists should be allowed to teach?
Copland: I couldn't give you a blanket decision on that without knowing the case.
McCarthy: Let's say the teacher is a Communist... would you feel that is sufficient to bar that teacher from a job as a teacher?
Copland: I certainly think it would be sufficient if he were using his Communist membership to angle his teaching to further the purposes of the Communist Party.
Of course, the irony of all this was that it was very typical of artists, musicians and intellectuals in the 1930-40s to question the "status quo," which included political, social and economic issues. In fact, what Copland was being investigated for was his support of a Communist candidate for governor, which was perfectly legal. And the fact that during WWII, he scored the music for North Star, a propaganda film in support of the Soviet Union's struggle against the Nazis. Copland was far luckier than other artists, whose lives and/or livelihoods were destroyed during the era. (The House, which labelled Copland as "un-American" in '53 turned around and gave him the Congressional Gold Medal in '86.)
I have written in detail about people whose lives were ruined by McCarthy’s reckless charges on IMDB in the past. One such person is Dorothy Keynon. You can read the transcript of her testimony and more about her life in many newspaper reports (her personal papers are located at Stanford). Keynon belonged to over 75 organizations, clubs, etc., many of which were not communist-leaning. Some were political clubs, others were social clubs. McCarthy had embellished/lied about the number of communist-leaning organizations she had joined. He never provided irrefutable evidence or documentation to support all of his charges or claims. He also misrepresented the truth in her involvement with these organizations. Upon learning of any communist association, Keynon withdrew from all organizations, save only one (and two U.S. senators and Albert Einstein also belonged to this organization). She later withdrew from this organization.
The hearing in which Keynon appeared had gone so badly for McCarthy that he actually left (similar to the Annie Lee Moss hearing). In the testimony, Keynon comments on how McCarthy’s slanderous accusations and labels hurt her and her career. Keynon aspired to be appointed to an official office. The accusations and labels McCarthy used against her had done “irreparable damage” to her career. She was correct. Keynon would never attain the office she sought afterwards. Keynon echoed Murrow’s point regarding the fact that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends on evidence and due process of law. However, the sad truth was that, at the time, McCarthy was too powerful; once labeled a communist or sympathizer by McCarthy, it was almost impossible for many people to separate innuendo from truth and accusation from guilt. Even the New York Times published a report that placed the responsibility with the reader, “The remedy lies with the reader.”
Another person McCarthy certainly tried to ruin was Hank Greenspun, who published the Las Vegas Sun. This resulted in a rather hilarious outcome: it was yet another occasion in which McCarthy “ran” from the person he accused. McCarthy travelled to Nevada to attend a political rally. He didn’t know that Greenspun would be in attendance. McCarthy, after praising his own war record (which, of course, is partly a lie), called Greenspun “an admitted communist, publisher of the Las Vegas Daily Worker.” However, before McCarthy could finish speaking, Greenspun, who was in the audience, sprung to his feet and challenged McCarthy. “Tail Gunner Joe” turned and ran off the stage. The event had been carried on radio throughout the state. It was an amazing turnabout of events. Greenspun spoke to the radio audience denouncing McCarthy and his “dirty lies.” He then added, “Defend your voting record, Senator, and explain how you yourself on every defense bill with the exception of two voted the straight Communist party line." He then challenged McCarthy to answer a series of questions, among them: “Were you ever wounded in action in the South Pacific as you claim?” But McCarthy was long gone. Greenspun, who was not a person to mess with, published articles attacking McCarthy as a demagogue. He also accused McCarthy of being a homosexual, which brought harsh criticism, even among McCarthy foes.
McCarthy was not alone in making reckless charges and “ruining” lives. Communist witch hunting was big business. Ted Kirkpatrick (an FBI employee) started American Business Consultants, Inc., which published books and newsletters on communism. It grossed over $100,000 in one year from Counterattack, a newsletter. And in June ’51, it published Red Channels, which contained a list of 151 persons ostensibly linked to communist-front organizations. Copland was on the list along with Orson Welles, Leonard Bernstein and other famous names. Many innocent people who found their names in this book assumed it was a joke. But it turned out to be no laughing matter. Here's a link to a wonderful interview (four parts) where Welles speaks about politicans, communist investigations and witch hunts, George Marshall, etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj0ZZnbVEMM
How did a book like this “ruin” lives? Here’s one example. Lawrence Johnson was the owner of supermarkets. He also wanted to launch a crusade against communists in America. He had also been elected to office in the National Association of Supermarkets. He organized a boycott of food companies who sold to supermarkets if they sponsored programs that used the people contained in Red Channels. This little book became a powerful blacklist that became, in effect, institutionalized in the motion picture, radio, television and advertising industries. The case of Joseph Julian, a radio actor, was typical. He was listed in Red Channels because he once appeared to read a poem at Carnegie Hall by a group called Artists Front to Win the War. The poem celebrated artists who died fighting fascism. The reading was Julian’s sole connection with the organization. After he was listed in Red Channels, his earnings dwindled. He later sued Red Channels for $150,000.
It's a shame that many innocent people slandered by McCarthy had no legal recourse.