Lew continues the story of President Dwight Eisenhower’s machinations behind the scenes to take down potentially his greatest rival, Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy. McCarthy had been under investigation by senate committees ever since his speech at Wheeling, WV that exposed the lack of concern on the part of the Truman administration about suspected communists that had been, or continued to be, in the government.

A mounting number of false charges resulting from these inquiries were continually repeated by the corporate newspapers, and by the radio and television networks. After former Army head Eisenhower became the president McCarthy began to investigate the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and the long-delayed war between them finally commenced. Press attacks migrated to innuendo intimating that McCarthy staffers Roy Cohn and David Schine, and possibly McCarthy himself, were homosexuals. McCarthy was also shamelessly attacked for his Catholicism, by the “liberal” press.

A well-executed propaganda film produced by CBS star Edward R. Murrow, and the theatrical performance of Army attorney Joseph Welch in the Army-McCarthy hearings, caused McCarthy’s 50% approval rating (according to Gallup Polls) to tumble 15 points. After that, the knives were out.

 Eisenhower and Senate leaders then moved in for the kill with a Senate censure trial. The plotters were forced to drop all but one of the forty-six charges that were manufactured for this exercise. The process was rigged. McCarthy was not allowed to speak, and evidence of the behavior of other senators and their leaders in previous situations was not allowed to be introduced. Finally, McCarthy was convicted on a single count that had nothing to do with his anti-communist efforts. Every Democrat and half the GOP senators voted to convict despite the efforts of stalwarts like William Jenner and Barry Goldwater to defend McCarthy and expose a rigged process. Democrat Senator John F. Kennedy made sure a back surgery was scheduled on the day of the vote, preventing his participation.

McCarthy’s future efforts were obscured by a media blackout. Anti-communist investigations continued but without vigor. Many politicians were now terrified of the label of McCarthyism. Eisenhower once again performed magnificently, stopping McCarthy’s populist movement and the momentum for domestic investigations of subversive activities.

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