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Margaret Chase Smith had served just a year in the Senate, yet many in Washington considered her a likely vice-presidential candidate on the GOP ticket in 1952. “The American people are sick and tired of seeing innocent people smeared,” Mrs. Smith told her fellow Senators. But “in those days,” she recalled, “freshmen senators were to be seen and not heard, like good children.”
When Joseph McCarthy produced a list of 205 Communists in government, Smith trusted him. “It looked as though Joe was onto something disturbing and frightening,” she said. But then she studied the documents McCarthy offered as evidence. She saw no evidence.
At first, she wavered. “I am not a lawyer,” she thought. “After all, Joe was a lawyer and any lawyer Senator will tell you that lawyer Senators are superior to non-lawyer Senators.” Surely, she hoped, “one of the Democrats would take the Senate floor.” But when no challenge came, “it became evident that Joe had the Senate paralyzed with fear.”
The Woman Who Said “No” To McCarthy | AMERICAN HERITAGE
This is an interesting article. I didn't know who she was.
When Joseph McCarthy produced a list of 205 Communists in government, Smith trusted him. “It looked as though Joe was onto something disturbing and frightening,” she said. But then she studied the documents McCarthy offered as evidence. She saw no evidence.
At first, she wavered. “I am not a lawyer,” she thought. “After all, Joe was a lawyer and any lawyer Senator will tell you that lawyer Senators are superior to non-lawyer Senators.” Surely, she hoped, “one of the Democrats would take the Senate floor.” But when no challenge came, “it became evident that Joe had the Senate paralyzed with fear.”
The Woman Who Said “No” To McCarthy | AMERICAN HERITAGE
This is an interesting article. I didn't know who she was.