TIME: Almanac 1993

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December 13, 1954THE CONGRESSA Myth Exploded Censure by his colleagues does not mean the end of Joe McCarthy. He has been nourished by headlines, and headlines may still feed him. But he was also nourished by myths. One was that he "rooted the Communists out of Government." Like most myths, this had a basis. There were, calamitously, Communists and Communoids in the U.S. government. joe did little to root them out. but he learned, to the dismay of his colleagues, to the shame of the executive branch and to the delight of the press, how to bay the loudest when others were following the scent. the myth of McCarthy. The Red hunter, was hard to kill during the truman Administration, which had gone on record as considering some of the most serious and necessary Red hunts as "red herrings." There was another, perhaps more vicious and enduring, myth upon which McCarthy fed. Eisenhower's victory could not explode it. It was the myth of McCarthy's prowess. No man-especially no Senator (other than an "extreme left-wing bleeding heart")-dared stand against him. This myth, propagated mainly by anti-McCArthy "liberals," helped swell McCarthy's headlines, and, since headlines are a form of power, a gross exaggeration of power begot actual power. This second myth was killed by the censure vote. To a man, the Democrats voted against McCarthy. their liberal wing from the northern cities was utterly unterrified by the fact that many of McCarthy's most fanatic followers are Democrats. The Democratic liberals were forced by the vote to abandon their dangerous pretense that the Senate feared McCArthy. The Southern Democrats, who include some of the most conservative men in the Senate, likewise voted against him-rejecting any pretensions McCarthy might have to being a conservative. Some of the most timid Republicans in the Senate voted against McCarthy. Of those Republicans who voted for him, few if any were intimidated by Joe. They voted their convictions. The source of those convictions can be found in the amazing failure of the Truman Administration to take early alarm at Communist infiltration. McCarthy had a sound issue. He developed it recklessly and even lazily. He was, no doubt, duped by his own headlines-fed to him by eager reactionaries and defensive "liberals" eager to cover their mistakes with McCArthy's gross blundering. That sordid chapter may have ended with the censure vote- delivered on the recommendation of five of the most conservative men in the U.S. Senate. It took an Arthur Watkins to curb McCarthy. Nobody but Joe could have called Watkins a "Communist handmaiden." Joe did, and Watkins beat him-three to one. "Splendid Job" Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, his coat draped over a greying sling, arose on the floor of the U.S. Senate last week to hasten the moment of decision. On the previous day in the living room of his home. Joe had disclosed his intention to his lawyer. He saw censure as inevitable, and was eager to get it over with. Therefore, he said, he would move to limit debate on his censure. To the Senate, McCarthy said that he had never meant to offend anyone. "I admit," said he, "that at times I have been extremely blunt in expressing my opinions. I do not claim to be a master of words." But, lest anyone think he was really apologizing, he added: "In the facts and opinions that I held, I am unchanged." Then he made his motion to cut off debate after two more days. After hours of wrangling, the Senate agreed. An eloquent argument for censure came from Connecticut's Republican Senator Prescott Bush. McCarthy, said Bush, has "caused dangerous divisions among the American people because of his attitude and the attitude he has encouraged among his followers: that there can be no honest differences of opinion with him. Either you must follow Senator McCarthy blindly, not daring to express any doubts or disagreements about any of his actions, or, in his eyes, you must be a Communist, a Communist sympathizer, or a fool who has been duped by the Communist line." Bush defended Censure Committee Chairman Arthur Watkins from the abuse suffered at Joe's hands. Said he: "Mr. President, if I have ever met a brave and noble Senator, Arthur Watkins is that man. And, Mr. President, I for one will not walk off and leave him standing in this chamber with a coward tag on him-not without protest." Noel, Noel. A while later, Illinois' Republican Senator Everett Dirksen launched into a seasonal mercy speech. "I had a moment to spend downtown the other day," he said, "I could have the Gramophones and radios pealing out the lovely words and phrases which somehow give animation to people in this one season and that somehow soften the spirit- Hark! the herald Angels Sing and O. Little Town of Bethlehem." The members of the Senate, suggested Dirksen, should soften their spirits toward Joe McCarthy. Shortly after Dirksen finished came one of the strangest performances of last or any other week. Republican Leader William Knowland announced that he had decided not to support the Watkin- committee in its recommendation of censure. His argument: McCarthy's offenses had been committed before McCarthy's re- election in 1952. It was Knowland himself who last Aug. 2 made the motion to establish a committee to consider charges against McCarthy. He was not a lawyer, he said then, and he was unwilling to vote on censure until an able, honest committee of lawyers had made recommendations. It was Knowland who selected the Republican members of the Watkins committee-much against their will. On Aug. 5 he told the Senate that he so trusted the committee members that he would be willing to stand trial for his life before them. The members of the committee, drafted by Leader Knowland, started their task with the implicit understanding that Knowland would stand behind them and would help protect them against the inevitable attacks from McCarthy. Said a Republican member of the Select Committee after Knowland announced his decision: "He ran out on us." "Mene, Mene, Tekel . . ." But Knowland's move came as no surprise to at least one Senator: Democratic Leader Lyndon Johnson. No sooner had Knowland sat down than johnson pulled from his desk drawer a prepared reply. The words McCarthy had used in describing the Watkins committee, said johnson, would be "much more fittingly inscribed on the wall of a men's room." Bill Knowland flushed red and scowled furiously. After that, there was little to do but start voting. The first roll call came on a Dirksen-authored substitute resolution that would have completely cleared Joe of any wrongdoing. It was on this motion that the McCarthyites based their fondest hopes; Dirksen had talked confidently of 30 or 35 favorable votes. While the clerk called the roll, South Dakota's Republican Senator Karl Mundt pranced up and down like a cheerleader, but to no avail. The resolution was defeated, 66 to 21, and the handwriting was on the wall. Other votes followed. Substitutes introduced by McCarthy supporters were beaten down. But the Senate did drop the censure count against McCarthy for his abuse of Brigadier General Ralph Zwicker. In its place went a condemnation section against joe for his "Communist handmaiden" and lynch bee" sneers. At last came the final vote, on which Democrats voted solidly for censure and Republicans split evenly. More than two-thirds of the u.S. Senate had, therefore, condemned mcCarthy for 1) contempt of the Hennings-Hayden- Hendrickson subcommittee that investigated him in 1951-52, and 2) his conduct toward the Senate and the Watkins committee since censure was recommended. Over and above these specific counts, McCarthy's colleagues censured him for bringing the Senate into dishonor and disrepute and for obstructing its legislative processes. Condemnation. After the tally was announced, New hampshire's foxy Republican Senator Styles Bridges arose to ask if the word "censure" actually appeared in the resolution. Vice President nixon said that it did not. Some McCarthyites were jubilant: they claimed Joe had escaped censure. Some liberals were equally happy; they had said all along that the Senate would never dare "censure" joe. McCarthy himself scorned this piece of nit- picking. Asked by a newsman if he thought he had been censured, Joe said: "I wouldn't say it was a vote of confidence." And Idaho's Republican Senator Herman Welker, a four-square McCarthyite, had remarked, hours before the last vote was taken: "You don't censure a man to death. You condemn him to death." Senator Watkins pointed out that the historic verb in Senate censure resolutions is "condemn." At week's end came the first word from the White House since the censure debate began. Dwight Eisenhower personally congratulated weary, browbeaten Arthur Watkins for a "very splendid job." Sickness All public men on all sides of any question get shocking letters-and no cause can be judged by the virulence of its letter writers. Nevertheless, Arkansas' Democratic Senator William Fulbright had a point to make last week about the "character of what has come to be known as McCarthyism." To illustrate his point, Fulbright inserted in the Congressional Record some letter he has received from followers of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Excerpts: From G.G. Gurley, president of the chemical Attraction Oil Corp., San Antonio: "When you joined the only Jew to vote against 76 Senators, that proved you were the henchman for the Jew Deal. H.H. Lehman should be deported out of this Nation to Russia, or let Germany take that 'bird' in and give him the gas like Hitler did . . ." From Peter Murphy, Buffalo: "A fine dirty red rat are you . . . Who were the birds that voted not to allow Senator McCarthy time off to recover from his illness? I'll tell you: it was Red loving Fulbright and the rotten Jew, Herbert Lehman, the pal of Hiss." From George J. Nick, Middle Village N.Y.: "You, sir, are not worthy of being a human being. I would spit on you if I could, but you would not be worthy of my saliva." From Pullman, mich.: "Dear Senator: Would you please do our country a big favor and drop dead? McCarthy is an American. What are you?" From "An American," San Francisco: "To a blind, greedy, materialistic pig: Where have you been for the past eight years, you durnd stupid fool? . . . May you suffer the tortures of hell before you croak, and be damned for all eternity." From New York: "Red skunk . . . Hope you are struck by God." From "A Korean Veteran," Trenton, N.J.: "Oh, how I hate you, you ------." "I think," said Fulbrigh of the letters, "they evidence a great sickness among our people." As he read, the Senate sat in an embarrassed silence broken only by a few tense titters. Progress Without Joe Joe McCArthy and his friends have cried-again and again-that the fight against internal subversion came to a standstill during the nine months that Joe was embroiled in fights with the Administration and with his Senate colleagues. After censure was voted last week, McCarthy told newsmen that he was "very happy to get this circus over with" so that he could "get back to the job of digging Communists out of the Government." This line is intended to suggest that joe is the mainspring of antisubversion activities and that such efforts stop when his energies are turned elsewhere. In fact, during the last nine months the Eisenhower Administration-with nary an assist (or an acknowledgment) from Joe-has achieved the following: -- Under the Smith Act, ten indictments, accusing 49 persons, have been returned. From these, 20 convictions have been won, with other cases still pending. -- Under the seditious conspiracy laws, two indictments, involving 28 persons, have been brought. There have been 16 convictions, with other cases still pending. -- Four persons have been convicted for harboring a Communist fugitive. Robert Thompson. -- Ten persons have been indicted for making false statements under the Communist affidavit clause of the Taft- Harley Act. Of these, one conviction has been won so far. -- Eight persons have been indicted on charges of contempt of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Since his Feb. 9, 1950 speech at Wheeling W. Va., McCarthy has accused scores of Government employees of being Communists. But of these, only one man, former State Department Official Val Lorwin, was indicted. Lorwin turned out to be a lifelong anti- Communist, and the case against him was dismissed. In addition, indictments have been returned against three persons charged with contempt of the McCArthy committee. The comparison strongly indicates that Joe's inactivity did not hurt the anti-subversion fight a bit. In fact, it probably helped. ----------------------------------------------------------------- THE FINAL VOTE FOR CONDEMNATION Republicans -- 22 Abel (Neb.) Flanders (Vt.) Aiken (Vt.) Hendrickson (N.J.) Beall (Md.) Ives (N.Y.) Bennett (utah) Payne (Me.) Bush (Conn.) Potter (Mich.) Carlson (Kans.) Saltonstall (Mass.) Case (S.Dak.) Smith (Me.) Cooper (Ky.) Smith (N.J.) Cotton (N.H.) Thye (Minn.) Duff (Pa.) Watkins (Utah) Ferguston (Mich.) Williams (Del.) Democrats -- 44 Anderson (N. Mex.) Johnson (Colo.) Burke (Ohio) Johnson (Texas) Byrd (Va.) Johnston (S.C.) Chavez (N. Mex.) Kefauver (Tenn.) Clements (Ky.) Kerr (Okla.) Daniel (S.C.) Kilgore (W. Va.) Daniel (Texas) Lehman (N.Y.) Douglas (Ill.) Long (La.) Eastland (Miss.) Magnuson (Wash.) Ellender (La.) Mansfield (Mont.) Ervin (N.C.) McClellan (Ark.) Frear (Del.) Monroney (Okla.) Fulbright (Ark.) Murray (Mont.) George (Ga.) Neely (W.Va.) Gillette (Iowa) O'Mahoney (Wyo.) Green (R.I.) Pastore (R.I.) Hayden (Ariz.) Robertson (Va.) Hennings (Mo.) Russell (Ga.) Hill (Ala.) Scott (N.C.) Holland (Fla.) Sparkman (Ala.) Humphrey (Minn.) Stennis (Miss.) Jackson (Wash.) Symington (Mo.) Independents -- 1 Morse (Ore.) AGAINST Republicans -- 22 Barrett (Wyo.) Knowland (Calif.) Bridges (N.H.) Kuchel (Calif.) Brown (Nev.) Langer (N. Dak.) Butler (Md.) Malone (Nev.) Cordon (Ore.) Martin (Pa.) Dirksen (Ill.) Milliken (Colo.) Dworshak (Idaho) Mundt (S. Dak.) Goldwater (Ariz.) Purtell (Conn.) Hickenlooper (Iowa) Schoeppel (Kans.) Hruska (Neb.) Welker (Idaho) Jenner (Ind.) Young (N. Dak.) Voting Present: McCarthy (R. Wis.). Not voting but announced as paired: Gore (D., Tenn.) for, and Bricker (R., Ohio) against; Smathers (D., Fla.) for, and Capehart (R. Ind.) against. Not present and not announced: Wiley (R., Wis.) and Kennedy (D., Mass.).