Going into 1954, Sen. Joseph McCarthy was at the height of his power, but his attempts to ferret out communists in the government had born little fruit. As head of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, McCarthy was able to call up numerous suspected communists to testify. Proof was seldom provided, but McCarthy’s bullying tactics damaged many careers. In the spring, he turned his attention to the Army. He focused on a top-secret Army base which he accused of harboring communists. His “big fish” was actually a minnow in the form of a dentist. The Army was not cowed. It accused McCarthy of exerting pressure for preferential treatment for one of its soldiers. David Schine had been drafted. His friend Roy Cohn happened to be McCarthy’s chief counsel and right-hand man. Cohn had contacted the Army and demanded cushy jobs for his buddy. For the face-off, the Army hired a shrewd Boston lawyer named Joseph Welch. The hearings were televised so millions of Americans watched the duel. McCarthy was not able to dent the Army’s case and Welch deflected every attack. It came to a climax on May 9, 1954. Welch demanded snarkily that Cohn provide his promised list of communists in the Army “before the sun goes down”. With the crowd clearly supporting Welch, McCarthy pulled his ace card to turn the tide. The Senator demanded to know about a young partner in Welch’s firm named Frederick Fisher. The implication was that Welch had a communist working for him. Ironically, Fisher had offered to work on the hearings with Welch, but Welch had turned him down in anticipation of McCarthy using his liberal-leanings (he was in the National Lawyers Guild) against him. McCarthy was shaken by the reckless accusation by McCarthy. The TV cameras shifted to reveal him shaking his head. He then said the words that ended McCarthy’s reign of terror. “Until this moment, I think I have never really gauged your cruelty of your recklessness…. Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency? At long last, have you no sense of decency?” This devastating counterattack, added to the previous weeks parade of McCarthy’s bullying (he was constantly calling for “point of order”). His tactics had turned most Americans against him. Within a year, he was on the decline and censured by the Senate, which had finally grown a backbone.
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/welch-mccarthy.html
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/joseph-mccarthy-meets-his-match
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