Today in 1950 United States Senator Joe McCarthy accused more than 200 staff in the State Department of being members of the Communist Party.Two days after this initial outburst, Senator Joe McCarthy wrote to President Harry Truman saying he had been able to compile a list of 57 Communists. His Communist witch-hunt did win him popular support. At its height, 25 states passed legislation outlawing communist organisations. All this from a country that prides itself on free speech, but it is worth noting that this was during the fledgling years of the Cold War and paranoia was rife.
