Joseph McCarthy was an unknown senator who, overnight, came to great fame after stating that the U.S. government had been compromised on the inside by more than 100 Soviet spies. That accusation spread across the country and rallied peoples' dislike of comunism as McCarthy gained power in the senate.
The quote, "Joe McCarthy got it all wrong and yet was still closer to the truth than those who ridiculed him," refers to McCarthy's rise in power, but then exploitation of that power to create fear and anxiety within American politics. McCarthy was wrong to use his fame for reckless means of hunting down comunism, however in the end he was right about the existence of Soviet spies within the government. When intelligence cables between the K.B.G. and Soviet Union were decoded in the 1990's, it was apparent that spies within the U.S. government had been sending information to the Soviet Union about America's atomic weapons program and diplomatic strategies. Looking back on the event, McCarthy does deserves some gratitude for his shocking insight, but could also have handled the situation in a less dramatic matter.
No comments:
Post a Comment