Joseph Mccarthy had won the election to the senate in 1946. during one of his speeches he reported that there were more than 200 communist working for the state department. he would call out many people but never proved one of them to be communist. McCarthy fell in 1954 when the government investigated his allegations and as a result was taken out of office.

if McCarthyism did not exist population speculation would be normal. McCarthy made people look over their shoulders and made them judge parts of the government based on what he would say> America without McCarthy is a good America.