Anatomy of a Fanatic

...Anatomy of a Fanatic A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy By David M Oshinsky Free Press 597pp $19 95 Reviewed by Joseph P. Lash Author, "Eleanor and Franklin" I encountered Joe McCarthy only once The New York Post had sent me to cover his appearance at the old Town Hall auditorium and ask him a few questions I caught up with him as he was leaving and introduced myself, whereupon he put his arm around my shoulder as if we were old friends He indicated he knew my radical record in the '30s, and proceeded to deal amiably with my questions I mention the incident because it illustrates a key aspect of McCarthy's character that is admirably caught in David Oshinsky's fine new biography The Wisconsin Senator had an essentially split personality malignity jostled with a desire to be liked Oshinsky quickly establishes his credentials as a careful researcher Earlier studies of McCarthy, for example, described his boyhood to fit political preconceptions of the man as a scoundrel and a loner, he was said to have been on the outs with his family, especially his father, a brawler from the word go Oshinsky carefully sifts these stories and emerges with a different finding after talking with survivors from the Senator's youth Yes, Joe was aggressive, ambitious, a braggart, yet not unduly so, not unlike the other Insh-Amencan boys he grew up with He was, moreover, always on cordial terms with his whole family, and a conscientious worker From an early age, though, he was hard, almost cruel, in competitive public struggles, yet sweet and conciliatory in private His was a soul in conflict The objectivity and scholarship of A Conspiracy So Immense should make it a standard treatment of the bully who briefly strutted across the national stage The author, an associate professor of history at Rutgers University, gives us a vivid account of the Senator's progress from demagogue to grand inquisitor, and of his use of the big he in the name of security and patriotism While hardly a "revisionist," Oshinsky challenges numerous assumed truths about the Senator He investigates every accusation, every charge, whether McCarthy's own or his critics', often taking advantage of material from new manuscript sources The result is a fresh portrait that in the main reinforces history's condemnation of "Tailgunner Joe" as a menace to the Republic McCarthy became a household word In the recoil from Russia's acquisition of the A-bomb, Soviet espionage and the "loss" of China, a large number of Americans saw him as their flaming sword countering the "secret battalions" of the enemy Others feared him as a relentless fanatic Few ignored him In the end, McCarthy may have become a true believer in his own crusade, as Oshinsky suggests, nevertheless, at the outset the battle with Moscow was simply one more vehicle in his dnve for the top Just as he recognized no restraints in his scramble for position when young, he declared there were no rules in the war against Communism Indeed, it was personal ambition, not deeply held convictions, that motivated McCarthy's entire career In the '30s, formstance, he easily shifted from ardent advocacy of the New Deal to the greater opportunities he discerned in Wisconsin's Republican Party His destructive climb began in earnest with his defeat in the 1946 GOP primary of a very sound public servant, Robert M. La Follette Jr McCarthy then scouted around for new openings to advance his power and boldly pursued them, displaying a recklessness that became his political trademark He met challenges by redoubling his denunciations, spewing out falsehoods and innuendos at gathng gun speed The Senate and the country were at the time duck soup for this freebooter, with his accusations that President Harry S Truman and Secretary of State Dean Acheson were abettors of a Communist conspiracy, that the government was riddled with Reds The public did not seem to care that McCarthy's figures rarely added up Worried about Communist gains, it was eager for scapegoats and never mind due process The GOP, led by the high-minded Senator Robert Taft of Ohio, also proved supportive "If one case doesn't work out, bring another," Taft urged A second Republican luminary from Ohio, Senator John Brick-er, told his Wisconsin colleague, "You're a real SOB But sometimes it's useful to have SOBs around to do the dirty work " By brilliantly exploiting anti-Com-mumst sentiment, McCarthy quickly moved from relative obscurity into the national spotlight A Conspiracy So Immense effectively documents the progression He began his attacks on the State Department in February 1950, when he made his notorious "I hold in my hand" speech in Wheeling, West Virginia The GOP high command, though considering him expendable, was ready to play along If he landed a knockout punch, the party would hug him more closely, if he laid an egg, it would disengage In the postwar atmosphere, especially after the Communist takeover in China, the more outrageous his statements, the stronger his grass roots backing By the 1952 campaign the Republicans could not distance themselves from the junior Senator, nor did they want to Their Presidential candidate, DwightD Eisenhower, stumping with McCarthy in Wisconsin, was persuaded to delete a tribute to his mentor George C Marshall that he had ordered written into his speech McCarthy's influence reached into the Democratic party as well, the Kennedys being a telling case JohnF Kennedy, running for the Senate in Massachusetts that year, was not enamored of the Wisconsin politician, but at his father's urging refused to sign a declaration of conscience opposing "the twin evils of Mc-Carthyism and Communism " The 1952 elections marked a turning point for McCarthy in more than one way Up for re-election, he trailed the ticket—an ominous sign He would have been edged out, Oshmsky notes, except for Eisenhower's coattails On the other hand, the Republicans now controlled the Senate, and as McCarthy's share of the spoils he was given the chairmanship of the Committee on Government Operations and its Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations He turned the latter into a major force, so much so, Oshinsky observes, that the Senate's power "to probe and the power of Senator McCarthy were virtually synonymous in the public mind " The position brought McCarthy to his zenith—and his dramatic downfall Oshinsky's account, swiftly paced and attentive to detail, is equal to its subject The Senator's bluster and lies started to backfire He began to experience what often happens to politicians who skyrocket into the political heavens Suddenly the old tricks and charms fail, the rhetoric falters, either because they have overreached or the public mood has shifted Still, there was enough applause for McCarthy from the Right to mislead him His response to the warning signals was greater audacity Instead of reimng in his arrogance and pugnacity—traits that had cowed the center in American politics—he went for broke He offended the Southern Democrats, took on the Army and hounded moderates in the Republican Party, including the cautious Eisenhower The more McCarthy pushed ahead heedlessly, the more the very tactics that had brought him close to the top of the political ladder now proceeded to undo him He tangled with James Wechsler, the editor of the New York Post, which had courageously criticized him and his friend J Edgar Hoover when most were silent Despite Wechsler's defiant, confrontational testimony—or possibly because of it?McCarthy was unable to harm the editor or his newspaper He tried to intimidate Edward R Murrow, calling him one of those "goddam anti-anti-Communists "Murrow replied with a devastating portrayal of the Senator's methods Most serious was Eisenhower' s abandonment of his refusal "to get into the gutter with that man " Ike ordered his aides to fight back and "to hell with any attempt to compromise " The specific matter that occasioned the climactic investigation of the investigator by the Subcommittee was the strong-arming of Roy Colin, McCarthy's legal aid, to secure preferential treatment for his buddy G David Schine, then an Army private The larger issue was, as it had been all along, whether the Senator would be allowed to undermine and demoralize the Army McCarthy sought to derail the inquiry at one point by accusing an associate of Special Counsel Joseph Welch of membership in the Lawyer's Guild This gratuitous and irrelevant smear was typical—the young man was in Boston, not on the staff that was questioning McCarthy As a vast TV audience watched, the session ended with Welch quietly saying, "I never saw such cruelty " "What did I do9 " a bewildered McCarthy asked when a "thunderous burst of applause" greeted Welch's remarks He had revealed himself to be evil His favorable ratings plummeted A previously timid Senate set up a Select Committee to consider a censure resolution As it deliberated, the 1954 elections were under way and no one wanted McCarthy's help Voters elected a Democratic House and Senate McCarthy brushed aside the letters of apology that some of his friends in the Senate begged him to sign The censure resolution carried 67-22 No longer a kmgpin, McCarthy remained in the Senate three more years "He was a minority voice in a minority party,'' Oshmsky writes, "and a discredited voice at that " In 1957 Joe McCarthy died of alcoholism Although he disagrees with Richard Rovere, who saw McCarthy as the ultimate cynic, Oshinsky agrees that McCarthy's "critics were right He never uncovered a Communist American history abounds with heroes and villains Both need to be remembered to keep us from sinning -I Conspiracy So Immense should help to keep our memories green...