The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy [Hardcover]

James Cross Giblin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 14, 2009

When Cold War tension was at its height, Joseph ("call me Joe") McCarthy conducted an anti-Communist crusade endorsed by millions of Americans, despite his unfair and unconstitutional methods. Award-winning writer James Cross Giblin tells the story of a man whose priorities centered on power and media attention and who stopped at nothing to obtain both. The strengths and weaknesses of the man and the system that permitted his rise are explored in this authoritative, lucid biography, which sets McCarthy's life against a teeming backdrop of world affairs and struggles between military and political rivals at home. Chapter notes, bibliography, index.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7–10—Giblin includes considerable information about McCarthy's background and earlier career, but devotes most of the book to his election to the Senate and use of intimidation and smear tactics to gain enormous political power before his eventual public disgrace and early, alcohol-related death. The author provides limited background and context about the public fear of communism, but his main focus is on McCarthy's actions and the damage they did to innocent people and organizations. He includes extensive detail about McCarthy's campaigns and Senate hearings, which occasionally makes for dry reading. However, that problem is eclipsed by the weaknesses of the author's sources and his dated perspective on the McCarthy and early Cold War era. His most cited sources are biographies by Thomas Reeves (Stein & Day, 1982) and journalist Tom Wicker (Houghton, 2006), but he also repeatedly cites Wikipedia and the Columbia Encyclopedia. Although his source discussion mentions recent scholarship based upon declassified materials in the U.S. and the Soviet Union that documents Soviet espionage and penetration into the American government from the 1930s through the Cold War, he does not adequately take those discoveries into account. McCarthy's behavior and methods were inexcusable, but his crusade makes more sense when placed into the larger context of Cold War fears and the peril that those on the left, many admirers of the ideals of communism, faced when Americans began to view the Soviets as enemies and those who had associated with them as traitors. Excellent quality archival photos and political cartoons appear throughout. An additional title.—Mary Mueller, Rolla Junior High School, MO
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Review

Timely and significant...If I were a high school teacher concentrating on the postwar era, I would devote a good part of my course to discussing this book for the cautionary tale it tells."--New York Times Book Review

"This lucid, authoritative portrait offers readers a compelling, real-life cautionary tale of blind ambition and the reckless pursuit of power. A tour de force."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Giblin's unmistakable research and passion for the subject add up to a comprehensive portrayal of a complex figure. Abundant source notes and further reading suggestions conclude this expansive undertaking."--Publishers Weekly

"Excellent quality archival photos and political cartoons appear throughout." --School Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Clarion Books; None edition (December 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618610588
• ISBN-13: 978-0618610587
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #702,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well written and very informative, November 24, 2009

By 

J. Schwartz "JMS" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

Well written and very informative. Appropriate for adults, high school students, and gifted middle school students. The author does not ignore controversial topics, such as questions about peoples' sexual orientation and how the prejudices of the 50s were used against people. He constructs a portrait of McCarthy that humanizes him more than other texts. McCarthy comes off more pitiful than evil. Everything McCarthy did, and the responses to him, are placed in the context of the age in which he lived. This book has a slightly left of center political orientation, but the author goes out of his way to remain objective and as unbiased as possible, considering the topic.

The photos supplement the text well.

I highly recommend this book. Like many young adult non-fiction books, they can be a great way for adults to quickly learn about topics about which they would like to know more.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars During the 1950s, this is what most Americans had on their mind., November 4, 2009

By 

Tom Brody (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

THE RISE AND FALL OF SENATOR JOE McCARTHY by James Giblin is a 290 page book. The book is medium format--7 ½ inches by ten inches. A black and white photograph can be found every three or four pages. The photos are either half-page or quarter-page. The paper is bright white, not cheap off-white as one finds in some books.

The book is suitable for teenagers and adults. The writing style is straightforward. The author does not try to draw attention to himself by trying to writing fancy. The reading level is that of a typical "big city" newspaper.

The book concerns U.S. politics in the early 1950s, with a focus on Mr. McCarthy. The narrative starts like this, "In his teens, Joe liked to wrestle with his pals at church picnics" (page 2). Up until page 53, the book progresses just as one might expect for a biography about any American hero, such as Charles Lindbergh, Mohammed Ali (Cassius Clay), or Jonas Salk. But as most baby-boomers know, Mr. McCarthy is not exactly an American hero.

From page 54 on, we learn of the following milestones. These milestones provide a context and rationale for Mr. McCarthy's abberant behaviors. We learn that the U.S.S.R. tested its first atomic bomb in August 29, 1949 (page 73). We learn of important milestones from the era, for example, that Mao Zedong declared victory of Chiang Kai-shek in the 20-year civil war in China (October 1, 1949) (pages 73, 128). Another milestone from the era is when North Korea invaded South Korea (June 25, 1950) (page 111), and that the main city in South Korea, Seoul, was in complete ruin (March 1951) (page 123). Another legendary milestone was when President Truman fired General MacArthur for advocating his own ideas, as far as military action in Korea was concerned (page 124). Yet another milestone was the Marshall Plan, which involved American foreign aid to all of Europe, including Germany, after World War II (page 128). Eventually, Truman decided not to run for a second term because the Korean War was going badly (page 132). Peace arrived in the Korean War in July 1953 (page 150). Another milestone was Stalin's death, after having ruled the U.S.S.R. as a brutal dictator for 30 years (page 160). And then, of course, there were the first hydrogen bombs tested by the United States (November 1, 1952) and by the U.S.S.R. just nine months later (page 173).

Senator Joe McCarthy used these events to fuel the feeding frenzy among the American public to engage in witch hunts, where the witch hunts involved accusing thousands of Americans of being Communists, with adverse consequences to the accused. One component of Mr. McCarthy's agenda was the snowball effect of newspapers and radio, all too eager to report dramatic news of McCarthy's continuing accusations.

Fortunately, the author James Giblin maintains a neutral tone throughout the book. The fact is, that Communist spies were an extremely serious problem, for example, in U.S. military research sites. But false accusations against Americans for being Communists was also a serious problem. These were two independent problems.

Much of the book is spent disclosing "he said/she said" encounters, where prominent Americans were accused by McCarthy of being Communists, and where these persons were compelled to defend themselves. The term "he said/she said" refers to opposing viewpoints between two people, where it is nearly impossible to verify either viewpoint. Here are some of the "he said/she said" scenarios:

(1) New York lawyer Dorothy Kenyon was called an "extremely bad security risk." Hearst newspapers proclaimed that she was "linked to Reds." But Kenyon told newspaper reports that "Senator McCarthy is a liar." (page 92).

(2) Owen Lattimore was an expert on China, and director of the School of International Relations at Johns Hopkins University. McCarthy accused him of being a Soviet agent. But Lattimore replied that this was "pure moonshine" and a Democratic senator Theodore Green called McCarthy's attacks "reckless and unfair, and did irreparable damage to America's image abroad." (page 99).

(3) John Steward Service was assigned to the U.S. diplomatic corps in China and became second secretary at the American Embassy in Chungking, the Chinese capital after World War II. He was arrested by the FBI for being a spy. Regarding Mr. Service, McCarthy states, "Do you want on your payroll a man who admits turning government secretes over to a Communist?" However, Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine defended Service, "too much harm has already ben done with irresponsible words of bitterness and selfish political opportunism." (page 109).

Eventually, Kenyon, Lattimore, and Service were completely cleared of charges by the Tydings subcommittee, in a report issued on July 17, 1950 (page 114).

(4) Adlai Stevenson, who ran against Eisenhower in the presidential election in 1952, was accused by McCarthy of consorting with Communists. McCarthy proclaimed, "I am checking your record since the day you entered government service at about the same time and in the same department as Alger Hiss [a Communist]" (page 139). But Stevenson denied that he ever had a close association with Alger Hiss. Hiss was accused of being a Soviet spy in 1948 and convicted of perjury in connection with this charge in 1950. After a mistrial due to a hung jury, Hiss was tried a second time. In January 1950, he was found guilty on both counts of perjury and received two concurrent five-year sentences, of which he eventually served 44 months.

To conclude, this book is an excellent introduction to any aspect of the era of the 1950s. In other words, whether your interest is politics, the development of the U.S. interstate system, the U.S. space race, or racial relations and integration, this book serves as an excellent, must-read back-drop for that era. In that era, Americans were very much afraid of Communists, but they were also concerned about the rise of McCarthyism. FIVE STARS.

4.0 out of 5 stars Tail gunner Joe, August 18, 2011

By 

Scrapple8 (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy (Hardcover)

For five years (1950-54) of his two term tenure in the Senate, Joe McCarthy was one of the most well-known politicians in America. McCarthy was the nation's most notable fighter of Communist subversives during a time when it was an important issue for the American constituency. `The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy' by James Cross Giblin gives the reader a meaty yet succinct portrayal of the conservative senator from Wisconsin.

His style of politics is still used today, although anyone who uses guilt by association or who makes unfounded accusations runs the risk of becoming an easy target for opponents. Joe McCarthy first used these tactics to attack the city editor of the Madison Capital Times, and he got more publicity for questioning the loyalty of Cedric Parker than anything he had done before. Shortly after that, McCarthy made a speech at West Virginia where he claimed 205 Communists were in the State Department. McCarthy received thousands of letters from supporters for his crusade against security risks.

Several world events made it a propitious time for McCarthy to fight Communism in the United States. Russian scientists detonated a nuclear bomb, and there were rumors that spies had passed them secrets to help them develop this technology. Just over a month later, Mao Zedung crushed the Nationalist Army of Chiang Kai-shek for control of China. Alger Hiss was convicted of two charges of perjury related to Communist spying a month after that, and Dr. Klaus Fuchs was arrested in London as a Soviet spy.

The 1952 midterm elections made McCarthy as powerful as he was popular. He gave a speech at the Republican National Convention where the punch line said One Communist in any agency is One Communist Too Many. You can just imagine the delegates reciting it along with McCarthy. He handily won his reelection bid, while his foes were defeated - not just in Burton in 1952, but Tydings in 1950. The Republicans also won a majority of the House and Senate, which gave McCarthy chairmanship of a subcommittee on Government Operations that McCarthy used to investigate Communists.

`I can investigate anybody,' McCarthy boldly stated. At first, it was a promise to the American people in the early 1950s. McCarthy was popular for his investigations into Fort Monmouth and Irving Peress, but he lost his way trying to place a dunce cap on Ralph Zweicker, a genuine hero from D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge. It ultimately led to the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954, where the Army came off sympathetically and McCarthy did not. A good supplement to this book is the 1964 documentary film, `Point of Order,' which contains riveting excerpts from the hearings.

By 1954, the country became more interested in avoiding nuclear conflict than raking over charges of subversion and espionage. The mid-term elections of 1954 returned the House and Senate to Democratic majorities. People were beginning to see the dark side of Communist inquiries, and they didn't like the encroachment on civil liberties. The accusatory style of McCarthy rubbed people the wrong way, particularly when it was used against Annie Lee Moss.

This was a fine summary of McCarthy's career; but it could have used a longer post-script. Two pages hardly seemed enough. There's no follow-up to Fred Fisher. There are no quotes from people today assessing McCarthy's career, just comments pro and con, basically along party lines, at his death. It is nevertheless a quick, enjoyable synopsis of a very important Senator who shaped Cold War policy during part of the Truman and Eisenhower administrations.