why were so many americans willing to suport senator joseph mccarthy during the 1950s?

Answer 1

Propaganda had instilled a fear in the hearts of Americans. "Red Scare" led many to believe that Communism was a legitimate threat that would eventually take over the US, unless something drastic was done. They were afraid, so they acted irrationally (as did McCarthy).

Answer 2

The US Gov. has been deeply involved in media manipulation and propaganda since its very inception. An important milestone was the Creel commission, created by Wilson to evaluate the means to turn public opinion from a strong pacifist stance to belligerent jingoism. The legacy of the Creel Commission was picked up by the Goebbels, who wanted to incite the masses the 'american way'.
If you look through the history of the US you will be able to see that the manipulation of consent is considered a prerequisite for elites to allow for nominal democracy. The technique is often the same, with the government pointing to some imaginary or insignificant threat and the private press saturating the front pages with elaborate lies that exacerbate fear and jingoism.
The case of McCarthy is in fact not an exception in US history. Sacco and Vanzetti were persecuted for their beliefs by a xenophobic and provincial public agitated by a government and press complicity bounded by anti-communism. Remember that the McCarthy era was characterized by collaboration from the higher ranks and ended only when the miiltary was threatened. Nixon himself was a prominent witch-hunter who managed to survive the scandal and expand the tragedy of anti-communism to a global scale.
Not that he did it single handedly, pundits like Eisenhower and Kennedy basically ran their campaigns on xenophobia and provincialism. The ugly truth hidden behind anti-communism is that the US needed an excuse to extend its influence globally. This is quite explicit in NSC-68.
When the propaganda got out of hand and people started chasing out their own representatives, union leaders and vocal political thinkers, the government could not be more happy. It meant that the population was in such a state of disarray that the elites could conduct anti-populist policies without fear of an opposition.
Of course, i am cynical enough to believe that the true reason for media manipulation and propaganda is a deep fear of democracy. And that the response of the government to the civil rights and anti war movements by establishing COINTELPRO (at the intelligence level) and the Tripartite comission (at the policy making level) demonstrate that a class war was indeed being waged against the working classes and their allies in the educated classes.
But due to intense propaganda being beamed into schools and TV shows, US people usually imagine that Marxist theory is somehow inherently flawed. Some even say that it is beautiful in paper but it does not work in real life. The problem is most of them have never read any Marx and could not pinpoint what Marxism is in real life if it hit them in the face.
In other words, McCarthyism triumphed because of the regime of ignorance and the manipulation of the truth purposely inflicted on the American people by its government to this very day. I suggest you pick up some Chomsky or ZInn to better illustrate the point.
Zinn actually chronicles racism from black white collaboration in the early colony and the successful attempts ofthe colonial government to separate them through law. His People's History of the US also delves into red scares and how they were manufactured by elite organizations.
I would twist your question around, why are so many americans willing to support the Iraq war when the evidence that Husssein possesed no WMD's has been readily available for a decade
?!!!??? Only a people who have been heavily indoctrinated could have ignored the UN inspectors who clamored that all WMD's had been dismantled, or that Saddam Hussein's own son testified to the fact before the invasion.... or that UN inspectors today will not specifically state that Iran's nuclear program has been anything but legitimate?
Peace.

Answer 3

I think part of it had to do with the Cold War, where the USA competed militarily, financially, socially, and philosophically with the USSR. Back then, the USSR was seen as a legitimate threat to democracy and to world peace. (It had gobbled up---or been given at Yalta---most of Eastern Europe, so this was a reasonable fear). McCarthy built on that fear in his obsessive campaign to find Communists everywhere in American society, particularly in the arts. The 50's were a placid time, compared to these days, and there wasn't the cynicism about political leaders that there is today. So when a powerful Senator seemed to be devoted to rooting out "the Commies", people listened. Unfortunately, McCarthy failed to make a distinction between left-leaning personal beliefs, and Communist beliefs linked to treason, spying, or the like.
We see, in my opinion, a resurgence of McCarthyism today, characterized by fear-mongering and labelling anyone with a different (non-neocon) opinion as 'supporting the enemy.' We should cherish difference of opinion, not despise it: it is one of the greatest strengths of a democracy. Those governments who restrict freedom of speech and belief are frequently totalitarian.

Answer 4

This is not a popular thing to say, but most likely because McCarthy was right! The question of course is, "Were there communists in the government?" and the answer, as we so clearly found out once the Soviet Union fell and opened its files, was yes indeed, there were, and McCarthy, for all of his ineptitude at dealing with the public, was right on every single case.

It's amazing how the general public can often see more clearly than can the media or the historians.

Answer 5

americans are prone to paranioa and persecution. the answers above show nothing has changed.

Answer 6

There were too many pinko slimeballs at the time, but he was a nut case, even if he was right. We should nuke all commies.