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The Jesuits and Joe McCarthy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Donald F. Crosby
Donald F. Crosby
Affiliation:
Assistant professor of history in the University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara, California.
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Extract

The Jesuits frequently attract public attention, and one such occasion for notoriety occurred in the days of the Communist hunt commonly associated with the name of the junior Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph Raymond McCarthy (1908–1957). During the years from 1950 to 1957 there were repeated attempts to link McCarthy with the Jesuits, (or, paradoxically, to link him with the Senator's opponents). The national Jesuit weekly America became embroiled in one of the most bitter arguments which broke out in the controversy. The events illustrate not only the intensely divisive nature of the dispute over McCarthy, but the peculiar position of the order both in the Church and in the intellectual life of the nation as well.

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Type
Research Article
Information
Church History , Volume 46 , Issue 3 , September 1977 , pp. 374 - 388
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1977

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References

1. Interviews with Rev. James Orford, S.J., November 15, 1971; Rev. Robert Sampon, November 17, 1971; Rev. Raphael Hamilton, S.J., November 16, 1971; Rev. Perry Roetz, S.J., November 13, 1971.

2. Pearson column in Washington Post, March 14, 1950; Anderson, Jack and May, Ronald, McCarthy, the Man, the Senator, the Ism (Boston, 1953), pp. 172–173;Google ScholarRovere, Richard, Senator Joe McCarthy (New York, 1959), pp. 122–123;Google ScholarGoldman, Eric, The Crucial Decade (New York, 1959), pp. 139–140;Google ScholarCook, Fred, The Nightmare Decade (New York, 1971), pp. 139–141;Google ScholarHalberstam, David, The Best and the Brightest (New York, 1972), pp. 117–118.Google Scholar

3. Walsh's Jesuit confidants who insist that he denied Pearson's claim were: Rev. Louis Gallagher (letter of October 19, 1971, to author); Rev. Daniel Power (interviewed February 4, 1972); Rev. Brian McGrath (interviewed Feb. 8, 1972); Walsh Papers, Georgetown University; on McCarthy's earlier use of the subversion issue, see O'Brien, Michael,“Senator Joseph McCarthy and Wisconsin,” (Ph.D. diss., University of Wisconsin, 1971), p. 97.Google Scholar

4. For an exhaustive study of the speech, see Griffith, Robert, The Politics of Fear (Lexington, Ky., 1970), pp. 48–51;Google ScholarRogin, Michael P., The Intellectuals and McCarthy: The Radical Specter (Cambridge, Mass., 1967), pp. 238–39;Google ScholarOshinsky, David, “Senator Joseph McCarthy and the American Labor Movement,” (Ph.D. diss., Brandeis University, 1971), pp. 253–257, 263;Google ScholarCrosby, Donald F.,“The Angry Catholics: American Catholics and Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, 1950–1957,” (Ph.D. diss., Brandeis University, 1973).Google Scholar

5. “Senator McCarthy's Charges,” America, 04 1, 1950, p. 737.Google Scholar See also,“ … and the Search for Truth,” America, 04 1, 1950, p. 737;Google Scholar“… And the Power to Investigate,” America, 04 8, 1950, p. 3;Google Scholar“Is the Red Peril a Distraction?” America, 05 27, 1950, p. 235.Google Scholar

6. See, for instance, “The Battle of the Files,” America, 04 22, 1950, pp. 78–79;Google Scholar“Communists in Washington,” America, 07 21, 1951, p. 323;Google Scholar“Wedemyer Versus McCarthy,” America, 06 30, 1951, p. 391;Google Scholar“Benton-McCarthy Showdown?” America, 03 22, 1952, p. 660.Google Scholar

7. Hartnett, Robert, “Pattern of GOP Victory,” America, 11 22, 1952, p. 209.Google Scholar For McCarthy speech, see New York Times, 10 28, 1954, pp. 1, 26, 30.Google Scholar

8. McCarthy, to Hartnett, , in America, 12 13, 1952, p. 316.Google Scholar

9. Hartnett, Robert, “Daily Worker on Stevenson,” America, 12 13, 1952, pp. 302–303.Google Scholar

10. Hartnett, , “Documents and Innuendoes,” America, 12 20, 1952, pp. 327–328.Google Scholar See also, “Detecting Subversives,” America, 01 3, 1953, p. 370.Google Scholar

11. McCarthy to Hartnett, January 6, 1953. Stencilled copy in“McCarthy” file, Patrick McCarran Papers, College of the Holy Names (Oakland, California).

12. Ray Kiermas [for McCarthy] to John McMahon, January 13, 1953, in“America” file, Jesuit Archives, Fordham University (hereafter cited as JAFU). John McMahon to McCarthy, January 15, 1953, JAFU.

13. Hartnett to John McMahon, January 28, 1952, “America” File, JAFU; America, 01 10, 1953, p. 412;Google ScholarWashington Post, January 4, 1953.

14. Hartnett, Robert, “Congress, Communists and the Common Good,” America, 03 27, 1954, p. 678;Google Scholar see also, “The Image and Echo of the Multitude,” America, 12 19, 1953, p. 311;Google Scholar“Campus Commies,” America, 02 14, 1953, p. 530;Google Scholar“‘Fifth Amendment’ College Teachers… Who Is to judge?” America, 01 2, 1954, p. 349.Google Scholar

15. Interview with Robert Hartnett, September 9, 1971.

16. Hartnett interview.

17. Griffith, , The Politics of Fear, pp. 212–220.Google Scholar

18. “We Can Do Better Than This,” America, 03 6, 1954, p. 585;Google ScholarHartnett, Robert, “Presidential Leadership vs. Senate Hegemony,” America, 03 13, 1954, pp. 621, 623.Google Scholar

19. Hartnett to the Fathers Provincial, March 15, 1954, “America” file, JAFU. Hartnett to Wilfred Parsons, March 10, 1954, Parsons Papers, Georgetown University (hereafter cited as GU).

20. “Fighting Communism: The Scope of ‘Opinion,” America, 04 10, 1954, p. 34;Google ScholarHartnett, Robert, “Congress, Communists, and the Common Good,” America, 03 27, 1954, pp. 677–679.Google Scholar

21. Hartnett to Parsons, April 7, 1954, Parsons Papers, GU.

22. “Feature X,” America, 04 17, 1954, p. 71.Google Scholar

23. Joseph T. Prentiss to America, in “Feature X,” America, 04 10, 1954, p. 44;Google Scholar“Feature X,” America, 04 17 1954, p. 70.Google Scholar

24. New York Times, 05 28, 1954, p. 1;Google Scholar and May 29, 1954, p. 1.

25. “‘Peaceful Overthrow' of the U.S. Presidency,” America, 05 22, 1954, pp. 210–211.Google Scholar

26. The article went out over the Associated Press (AP) wires on May 18, 1954. (The May 22 issue of America appeared several days before the date shown on the magazine.) The AP article appeared in the Boston Daily Globe, May 18, 1954; in the Washington Post, May 18, 1954; in the Baltimore Sun, May 18, 1954, and in many other newspapers as well.

27. Brooklyn Tablet, May 21, 1954.

28. See for example, Denver Post, May 22, 1954; Washington Post, May 22, 1954; New York Journal American, May 22, 1954.

29. “Freedom of Catholic Opinion,” America, 06 5, 1954, p. 261.Google Scholar

30. Rev. Millmann, Robert H. to Brooklyn Tablet in Tablet, 05 29, 1954;Google Scholar Rev. Hurley, Patrick F. to Tablet in Tablet, 05 29, 1954;Google Scholar Rev. Lennon, J. A. to New York Journal American in Journal, 05 29, 1954.Google Scholar

31. On agreement not to discuss McCarthy issue: interview with Thurston N. Davis, Feb. 21, 1972. Jesuit McCarthyites complain to their superior: Joseph McGowan to John McMahon, May 25, 1954, “McCarthy Editorial” folder, JAFU; McMahon to McGowan, May 25, 1954, Ibid.; Joseph A. Lennon to McMahon, May 25, 1954, Ibid.; John F. Hurley to McMahon, May 25, 1954, Ibid.; McMahon to Hurley, May 26, 1954, Ibid.

32. Daniel K. Shanley to McMahon, May 26, 1954, Ibid.

33. Bishop Joseph F. Flannelly to Hartnett, May 19, 1954, Ibid. Flannelly to McMahon, May 20, 1954, Ibid.; McMahon to Flannelly, May 21, 1954, Ibid.

34. Interview with Thurston N. Davis, February 21, 1972.

35. Hartnett wrote that the magazine had received 70 letters for McCarthy and about six for America. See Hartnett to Parsons, May 21, 1954, Parsons Papers, GU.

36. Davis interview.

37. John McMahon, William E. Fitzgerald, and William F. Maloney to Hartnett, May 29, 1954, “McCarthy Editorial” folder, JAFU. In a covering letter, McMahon wrote Hartnett, “We do not wish you to interpret this Directive as a vote of no confidence. It is not that. You still have our support. But in the present heated state of public opinion, particularly among Catholics, we think silence for two months will be golden.… P.S. If some extraordinary and crucial situation should develop which you and the Staff think should warrant an editorial or comment, you may represent this to me and I shall take it up with the Committee.” McMahon to Hartnett, May 29, 1954, Ibid.

38. Hartnett to Vincent McCormick, May 31, 1954, “America” box, JAFU; Hartnett to McMahon, June 2, 1954, Ibid.

39. McMahon, , Maloney, , Fitzgerald, , to Editors of America, 06 3, 1954,Google ScholarIbid.

40. Hartnett to McMahon, June 4, 1954, Ibid.

41. John B. Janssens to John McMahon, June 2, 1954, “America” box, JAFU.

42. Janssens, to McMahon, , 06 17, 1954, “America” box, JAFU.Google Scholar

43. Fitzgerald, Maloney, and McMahon to Hartnett, June 23, 1954, Ibid.; Hartnett to Thomas E. Henneberry, June 27, 1954, Ibid.; Henneberry to Hartnett, July 3, 1954, Ibid.

44. “The Passing of Senator McCarthy,” America, 05 18, 1957, p. 223.Google Scholar

45. Hartnett to Wilfred Parsons, September, 30, 1954, Parsons Papers, GU. On September 17, 1955, Thurston N. Davis took over as the new editor of America.

46. On Hartnett's personal reasons for leaving: author's interview with Hartnett, Septemebr 9, 1971. For documentary evidence, See“America” boxes, JAFU.

47. Crosby, “The Angry Catholics.”

48. New York Times, December 23, 1952.