Evening star., 1953-11-27
On curbing 'McCorthyism'

Senator McCarthy's defiant notice to the
President that he intends to run his own show
on the Communists lin Government front has
been followed by chorus of appeals to Cen
eral Eisenhower to rise up and assert himself.
This is understandable enough, for there
are many Republicans who will not accept the
proposition that the issue in the next election
should be the performance of Senator Mccarthy
rather than the record of both the Eisenhower
administration and the individual Republicans
who are running for office.
But those who join in this chorus should
remember one thing: 1t is easy to offer advice;
it is not easy to know just what the President
could do, if he wanted to do anything, which
would effectively curb the Senator from Wis
conSin. Franklin Roosevelt, at the peak of his
popularity could not persuade the House to
abandon it's Committee on Un-American Activ
ities Nor is it likely that President Eisenhower,
even in the face of this significant challenge to
his position as leader of the Republican Party,
could accomplish anything by merely denounc-
ing Senator Mccarthy.
Perhaps the best thing that the President
might try to do would be to set an example
an example which would persuade the people
that the Government can deal with its Com
munist problem without resorting to the tech
nuues which Senator Mccarthy employs.
will make it difficult for the President to pursue
this course, or to achieve any worthwhile
results if he tries to pursue it.
One of these of course is Senator Mccarthy
himself. If he is going to hew to the line which
he Sketched in his speech, and If the RepubH-
cans in the Senate are going to support him, 1t
may be impossible for the President to adhere
successfully to policy of letting the Wisconsin
Senator discredit himself. The second thing has
to do with the attitude of the Democrats.
If they are sincere in their professions of
adherence of "McCarthyism" as national
evil, they should be willing to support the Pres
ident in anything which he may do to counter
act "McCarthyism." But there is little reason
to believe that the Democrats will do this.
Certainly this was not being done when
former President Truman said that the ,ElSen-
hover administration, which means President
Eisenhower, had fully embraced" Mccarthy
ism. Mr.. Truman said that this was done by
the administration for political advantage
And he also submitted the following as one
definition of McCarthyism: "It is the use OF
the big lie and the unfounded accusation
against any citizen in the name of Americanlsm
or security"
If a Democrat of the standing of Mr.. Tru-
man is going to accuse the Eisenhower admin
istration of fully embracing this evil, and espe-
citlly if Mr. Truman's accusation is made for
political advantage, what hope is there that
President Eisenhower will take off the gloves
and go after Senator Mccarthy?
The answer, unfortunately, is that there is
very little hope For the compulsons of our
political system are such that the Democrats
will exploit "McCarthysm" if it seems to their
political advantage to do So And the Republ1-
cans, in their turn will try to ride the Mccarthy
wave or at least will not try to turn it back, II
they think that political expediency so dictates.
This does not conform to any ideallst1c
conception of the manner in which our political
system should function. The simple fact Is,
however, that there have been other periods IN
our political history when men who employed
methods[nuch like those of Senator Mccarthy
enjoyed their brief hour on the central stage
But they could make no lasting impression on
the good sense of the American people. In tne
course of time they have been forgotten, and
current alarms to the contrary, the American
citizen, by and large, remains free to write, to
speak and to worship as he pleases.