The Growth of American Power Through Cold and Hot Wars 333cerned with economic and political issues than an apparent desire to harm the
U.S. If one challenged the government-corporation-banking control of the
economy, or opposed America’s policies toward the Soviet Union or interven-
tion into smaller countries, or believed workers or Blacks or women deserved
equal rights to Whites and men, among other issues, that person could be
considered disloyal, even if he or she was a proud American with no intent to
do any damage to any American institution. Hence, finding disloyal Americans
when such a broad definition was used was not difficult. In Congress, HUAC
was already in existence but began to more vigorously seek out “communists”
and “subversives” as the Cold War began. Some of HUAC’s targets were
laughable, as the committee launched investigations, which discovered no use-
ful information, on celebrities such as Lucille Ball, Groucho Marx, and Frank
Sinatra. HUAC did, however, cause considerable damage in Hollywood, calling
many writers, directors, and actors to testify before it over claims that they
had communist connections [similar, though much worse, than the controver-
sies involving the Dixie Chicks, Sean Penn, Bill Maher, and others after 9/11].
Celebrities like Ronald Reagan, then an actor and the president of the main
union in Hollywood, the Screen Actor’s Guild, and U.S. president in the 1980s,
appeared before the committee to denounce Communists in the entertain-
ment industry. Reagan admitted, though he had heard rumors of Communists,
he had no knowledge of any, but that did not stop him from accusing the
Communist Party, a “small clique,” of being a “disruptive influence” in
Hollywood. Walt Disney, who probably had more influence over American
culture than anyone at the time and had made government propaganda films,
was more harsh in criticizing Communists, especially in the unions working
at his studios. “I definitely feel it was a Communist group,” Disney observed,
“trying to take over my artists and they did take them over.” As for
Communism, Disney said “I don’t believe it is a political party. I believe it is
an un-American thing.” He “resent[ed] the most” the influence he claimed
that they had in his unions, where people who Disney knew were “good, 100
percent Americans” got “trapped by this group” of Communists. Linking
unions to Communism, as seen below, was a common anti-labor tactic in that
period. Even Ayn Rand, author of books celebrating Capitalism and attacking
the government’s role in economic decisions, and inspiration to many conser-
vatives and Republicans in the 21st Century, testified before HUAC and
denounced the Soviet Union.