The Age of McCarthyism.

[slimmx]

Hi all. I am in a despirate position. I have a project due next friday which will be worth 50% of my grade. I have to interview two people for it that lived during cold war and McCarthyism. This people would have to be somewhere around 70 or older. Is there anyone here who is that old? Or is there anyone who heard some personal stories about that time period? Also is there anyone here who can make up some stuff LOL?

Here are some questions I have:

Q1. How old were you when the cold war took place?
Q2. WHere were you living during that time?
Q3. How did it feel living during that time?
Q4. How did it feel living under threat of nuclear war?
Q5. What were some of the hardships you had to go through at that time?
Q6. What was the most horrific thing that occured to you during that time?
Q7. How did cold war affected you as a person?
Q8. How did you feel towards Soviet Union, Russians, Communism?
Q10. Were you attending school during that time?
Q11. How was it to be in school during that time?
Q12. How did school prepare you for war?
Q13. Were you a victim of Second Red Scare?
Q14. Did any of your family members had to take a Loyalty Test?
Q15. Were you in the army during that time?
Q16. Do you know anyone who was a communist?


I am interested in hearing anything about person accounts of Cold War, Loyalty tests, McCarthyism and Red Scare.

Thanks.

[lordsmurf]

I have to interview two people for it that lived during cold war and McCarthyism. This people would have to be somewhere around 70 or older.

Who told you that crock? You can go younger, people in their 50s and 60s for sure will remember McCarthy. Anybody older than 25 generally remembers the Cold War, especially the older they get, the more they saw. The cold war existed until about 1989 or so, when the Berlin Wall came down. Ronald Reagan? "Mr. Gorbechav, tear down this wall!" McCarthyism was alive during the Red Scare all through the 50s. Ever heard of VIETNAM? Yeah, Cold War in action in the 1970s. The USA was afraid of communism spreading. Cold War was nothing more than communism vs democracy, lasted about 40 years.

[Tommyknocker]

To have lived through McCarthyism as an adult, the person would be getting on in years. I'm no spring chicken myself, but I grew after Senator McCarthy was destroyed politically. He will need a senior citizen to complete his assignment, and it is not a "load of crap".

[Cobra]

Advance warning:

Should this thread turn political, I'd have to lock it. That would be a great shame.

Please, keep it civil and within the Forum AUP.

Many thanks!

Cobra

[yoda313]

To have lived through McCarthyism as an adult, the person would be getting on in years. I'm no spring chicken myself, but I grew after Senator McCarthy was destroyed politically. He will need a senior citizen to complete his assignment, and it is not a "load of crap".

Hello,

Well Lordsmurf was right about the cold war bit. I'm 26 and I do remember some of the political stuff. Though I must admit in the mid 80's I was more in to nintendo that international politics

Though the mccarthyism would require an older individual.

Kevin

[Tommyknocker]

Agrred, I only mentioned he would need a senior citizen to complete his assignment. That's all I'm saying.

[slimmx]

Yeah that's why I am saying this person would have to be old. I know cold war lasted through 80s but I need someone who can remember a connection between McCarthyism and Cold War. Or someone with memories of his or her grandparents telling them something about it.

* And please nothing really political, I don't want this thread to be closed.

[Goober57]

Hello,

Well Lordsmurf was right about the cold war bit. I'm 26 and I do remember some of the political stuff. Though I must admit in the mid 80's I was more in to nintendo that international politics

Though the mccarthyism would require an older individual.

Kevin

than

[BJ_M]

my grandfather was born in 1860 , i doubt he would be a good source of info even though he lived untill he was 90 ...

its kind of funny how some assume people here are so young, though many of us are well into our 40's and older (though 40 IS young)





cap's first car was a model T in fact ... :P

[Capmaster]

my grandfather was born in 1860 , i doubt he would be a good source of info even though he lived untill he was 90 ...

its kind of funny how some assume people here are so young, though many of us are well into our 40's and older (though 40 IS young)


cap's first car was a model T in fact ... :P

It was a Model "A"

[BJ_M]

oh sorry //

[ViRaL1]

my grandfather was born in 1860 , i doubt he would be a good source of info even though he lived untill he was 90 ...

its kind of funny how some assume people here are so young, though many of us are well into our 40's and older (though 40 IS young)





cap's first car was a model T in fact ... :P

You kids today. :P

[slimmx]

HAHAHAHA. Come on guys, does anyone have any useful info? BJ_M did he ever tell you anything about McCarthyism? You can even make up some stuff if you want.

[BJ_M]

HAHAHAHA. Come on guys, does anyone have any useful info? BJ_M did he ever tell you anything about McCarthyism? You can even make up some stuff if you want.

not really as he died about 10 years before i was born ... plus they grew up in Scotland and if it isn't Scottish .. it's crap ..

[pacmania_2001]

Have you thought of paying a visit to your local retirement home or veterans place?

[slimmx]

Yeah, I was trying to get an elder in my school but they were all taken LOL. I don't have time now.

[yoda313]

Hello,

Well Lordsmurf was right about the cold war bit. I'm 26 and I do remember some of the political stuff. Though I must admit in the mid 80's I was more in to nintendo that international politics

Though the mccarthyism would require an older individual.

Kevin

than

Picky Picky :P :P :P :P

Back on topic - I agree with the earlier idea of seeking out a retirement home if you have the time.

Kevin

[smearbrick1]

Um... ok... yes, right....McCarthyism... here's what I know about McCarthyism:

It rained early in the day, but then cleared up later.

Oh wait... that was Woodstock.

Nevermind.

[fritzi93]

No doubt there are more than a few here who remember all that. But your questions are so open-ended and prone to stirring up trouble in the forum....Most of the responses will likely be less than helpful. Oh, what the hell, I'll try.

McCarthy was an ignorant, opportunistic bully. In and of himself he was unimportant, but he has become a symbol.

The really decisive moment was in 1948, when the House Unamerican Activities Committee started investigating communists in the State Department. The most memorable figures were Alger Hiss, an official at State accused of passing secrets to the Soviets, and Whittaker Chambers, a disillusioned former communist. (Chambers testified about communists in the U.S. government). Then came the trial and conviction of Hiss in 1949, and a shooting war in Korea in 1950.

The ball was rolling now, and the hitherto unknown senator began his career as a demagogue. No room here to recount the details, there are thousands of books out there on the subject. McCarthy's downfall came in 1954. As I recall, it was an Army General who called him out. Then Ike broke his silence, castigating McCarthy by name. Rather unusual, as it's considered bad form for a President to denounce a member of a co-equal branch of government. And a member of his own party, at that.

So why did anyone listen to him? Let's leave the facts and details aside. There is a strong nativist streak in the American character, and it goes way back. Partly it's a distrust of immigrants and foreign ideas, partly dislike in general of dealings with foreigners. Stay with me a moment. There was an audience disposed to listen to him.

The wave of immigrants prior to WW1 brought Marxists and Anarchists to the U.S. in numbers for the first time. They were largely unnoticed until 1918, when they began a minor campaign of support for Soviet Russia, plus a few bombings. The reaction was savage, the Red Scare of 1919-1920. Attorney General Palmer carried out extensive raids and prosections. And remember Sacco and Vanzetti? They were convicted of murder and executed, but their main offense was they were foreign-born anarchists. Then came agitation for and passage of anti-immigration bills in Congress.

Fast-forward to the Great Depression, which severely shook American confidence. Agitation began anew, along with pro-Soviet propaganda and recruitment. Disproportionately, it was the children of the earlier wave of immigrants who took part. Many of them now had positions in Academia and goverment. The government was not disposed to take notice, having its hands full, so in the main the nativist reaction took the form of the Isolationist movement. It was also in the late 'thirties that Whittaker Chambers became disillusioned with the Soviet Union. (He had originally been exposed to communism at Columbia Univ. in NYC, in 1921 as a student).

Then, after WW2 came the Cold War and HUAC. They investigated "Unamerican Activities", remember? It was pretty much inevitable that there would be a McCarthy or someone very like him.

So what was it like early in the Cold War? Hell, I don't have much to compare it to, during that time I had my one and only childhood. But it's not at all the case that I was particularly worried or scared about it. It was just part of the atmosphere, and warnings of nuclear obliteration never seemed quite real. Predictions of catastrophe rarely do. Really, those questions sound to me like they were cooked up by a rather dim professor. I've known a few.

I re-read what I just wrote and it's ridiculously incomplete and unsatisfactory. Bound to be, though, your subject is just too big. But I think you need to consider the part nativism played in the red scares.

I hope that's some use to you, it's all the help you're gunna get from me.

[Capmaster]

[Cobra]

Try www.politick.org.uk for a more free discussion.