Philip Rubenstein
America’s Red Scare, Part 4: Naming Names, Cohn, McCarthy, McCarthyism
Summary
In the final lecture on America’s Red Scare, the focus is on the 1950s, particularly on Senator Joseph McCarthy and the lasting impact of the Red Scares. Despite McCarthy’s later reputation as a liar and a destroyer of lives, the lecture delves into his early life, revealing a tough upbringing and initial political career as a pro-New Deal Democrat. McCarthy’s shift to the Republican party and his unscrupulous tactics, including false accusations and personal attacks, are outlined. Part 4 of 4.
Philip Rubenstein
Philip Rubenstein was director of the Parliamentary War Crimes Group, which, in the mid-to-late 1980s, campaigned to bring Nazi war criminals living in the UK to justice. Philip was also the founder-director of the Holocaust Educational Trust and played a role in getting the study of the Shoah onto the national school’s curriculum in the UK. These days, he works with family businesses, advising on governance and continuity from one generation to the next.
I think he was well on the way there. I think he was a more complicated character than I’d given him credit for before I started reading about him. But I think it was always there. I think when he saw his opportunity, he took it. But certainly by the time he got to the Senate, any shred of decency that he’d had before had pretty much disappeared. And by 1954, the tragedy is that he was absolutely hollowed out.