To quote the song, "Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, Television, North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe." Indeed, McCarthy was a fairly potent part of the 1950s, with his pursuit of Communists in the second Red Scare. McCarthy understood the power of insinuation and suspicion, and in a politically charged atmosphere, grasped how being able to successfully work through "the politics of blame," one can make quite a career for themselves in politics. McCarthy's House Unamerican Activities Committee (HUAC) sought to expose Communists on the stand and under oath. The committee's work ended up being successful for a time, until the power of television, which worked to bring McCarthy fame and success, ended up taking him down when journalist Edward R. Murrow used his position and the medium to expose McCarthy for the blustering and intimidating fraud he truly was.
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