Propaganda
"McCarthy masterfully used the media to continue to inflame public fear of Communism by calling frequent press conferences—sometimes to announce a different press conference—and indicating he had evidence of widespread subversion in the government. Though he never produced his evidence, the national publicity he garnered helped carry him to reelection to the Senate in 1952."[21]
- US History in Context, 2014
“Today we are engaged in a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity. The modern champions of communism have selected this as the time, and ladies and gentlemen, the chips are down—they are truly down."[22] McCarthy defines the Cold War as a battle between Christianity and atheism rather than capitalism and communism. McCarthy uses religion to appeal to the American public. Making the Communists threats to the Christian world makes them clearer enemies. McCarthy states that Marx hated all things good that comprise the American definition of freedom
"Five years after a world war has been won, men’s hearts should anticipate a long peace—and men’s minds should be free from the heavy weight that comes with war. But this is not such a period--for this is not a period of peace. This is a time of “the cold war.” This is a time when all the world is split into two vast, increasingly hostile armed camps—a time of a great armament race." [24] .McCarthy states that World War 2's resolution should have brought peace but it did not. In fact, this Cold War has led to increased hostilities. In the quote,"This is not a period of peace. This is a time of 'the cold war,'" McCarthy appeals to his audiences value (a peaceful world) and contrasts them from the current state of the world. McCarthy uses clever diction and syntax to McCarthy exaggerate the Communist threat
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The great difference between our western Christian world and the atheistic Communist world is not political, gentlemen, it is moral. For instance, the Marxian idea of confiscating the land and factories and running the entire economy as a single enterprise is momentous. Likewise, Lenin’s invention of the one-party police state as a way to make Marx’s idea work is hardly less momentous. McCarthy feels as though the difference between capitalism and communism lies in the morality of the followers. McCarthy demonstrates that he feels as though those who follow and advocate or communism lack morals and thus are the enemy. He denounces the methodology of Stalin as he explains that it is dividing the world. This shows the means by which McCarthy speaks out against communism and shows how he appeals to people's religion when trying to denounce communism. McCarthy appeals to the ethical values of the American people in their mutual belief in Christianity and freedom of religion in order to manipulate them and convince them that communism is bad. Referring to the communists as atheists makes them seem more like an enemy.
"Today we can almost physically hear the mutterings and rumblings of an invigorated god of war. You can see it, feel it, and hear it all the way from the Indochina hills, from the shores of Formosa, right over into the very heart of Europe itself. |
This propaganda was essential in the manipulation of the American public, and towards the effectiveness of McCarthyism as a whole