The Growth of American Power Through Cold and Hot Wars 337and to continue on his crusade he needed “proved cases,” not “unproven
charges.” She finished by offering 6 declarations of conscience, basically a list
of rights like free speech and protest that were supposed to be part of the core
of American liberty. Still, McCarthy continued his smears, for several more
years.
By 1954, fewer Americans believed his theories on the Communist con-
spiracy taking over the U.S., and a television host, Edward R. Murrow, delivered
a serious blow to his credibility and anti-Communist hysteria when he inter-
viewed McCarthy on his show See It Now on March 9th, 1954. He showed
clips of the Wisconsin Senator calling people Communists and traitors and
rebutted them. He powerfully concluded, “this is no time for men who
oppose Senator McCarthy’s methods to keep silent, or for those who approve.
We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibil-
ity for the result. There is no way for a citizen of a republic to abdicate his
responsibilities. As a nation we have come into our full inheritance at a tender
age. We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wher-
ever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad
by deserting it at home.” McCarthy appeared on Murrow’s show a few weeks
later to defend himself but he appeared rambling, cited others who had made
anti-Communist statements, offered no evidence, and attacked his enemies,
especially Murrow, whom he called “a leader and the cleverest of the jackal
pack which is always at the throat of anyone who dares to expose individual
Communism and traitors.” Murrow in the end won, however, as he is still
revered for his journalism and activism. In fact, his signature signoff, “Good
Night and Good Luck,” became the title of a 2005 movie about his encounter
with McCarthy, made by George Clooney.McCarthy’s last stand, as it were,
came in mid-1954 when he, incredibly, went after the U.S. Army, claiming that
over 100 of its personnel had some association to Communism. The Army’s
representative, the attorney Joseph Welch, went after McCarthy aggressively in
televised hearings, demanding that the senator present him with names of any
Communists. McCarthy replied that a young man in Welch’s own firm had
once been associated with a group of radical lawyers and Welch’s response
remains one of the most powerful moments in the era. “Let us not assassinate
this lad further, Senator” Welch pled, “you’ve done enough. Have you no
sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency.” Welch’s
testimony essentially broke McCarthy and his crusade, and the Senator, an
alcoholic and morphine addict, died in May 1957.