McCarthyism and President Dwight D. Eisenhower

I believe McCarthyism had a negative impact on the lives and political thinking of people in the U.S.

People were already paranoid about communism and he just exacerbated it. Some people that might not have been worried before may have become worried because it was coming from a political official. I am sure many people saw the government as a bunch of gay people and communists. This made the people lose trust in the government.

McCarthy had no right to put more fear into people when half the people on his list were not even in office anymore. He used a connection in the FBI to get the list and make it public knowledge. The FBI did not even know if these people were really communist or not. I am sure it was unsettling for Americans and many people were afraid to say something for fear of being persecuted

The people that were in office probably didn’t have as much trust in their fellow politicians either. The people that were on the list must have been afraid to go outside. Because the people though these accusations were true they would torment the people on the list. The worst part is most of these people were found innocent by the FBI.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower was pragmatic in managing the economy in a few different ways. One way was by coming up with the highway act that was a plan to help the economy. This provided jobs for people that could work for the highway department, house building companies, and small businesses that could open along the highway. This was helpful because, it allowed Americans to move farther away from the city. Because, more people moved away from the city they needed more houses built in the suburbs. When they moved away from the city they needed to buy vehicles for transportation. On their way to the city they would stop at stores and spend money. Another pragmatic, political measure Eisenhower used to manage the economy was allowing trade between Canada and the U.S. He did this by signing the St. Lawrence Seaway act in 1954. What this did was allow people to ship goods across the Great Lakes.

The consensus was based on the middle class values and fundamental democratic values. Americans were against the spread of communism. The American way was evident by the prosperity and materials possessions they owned. The bad thing about the consensus was that it caused people to conform mindlessly.


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