No Sense of Decency: The Army-McCarthy Hearings: A Demagogue Falls and Television Takes Charge of American Politics

by Robert Shogan

"Have you no sense of decency, sir?" asked attorney Robert Welch in a climactic moment in the 1954 Senate hearings that pitted Joseph R. McCarthy against the United States Army, President Dwight Eisenhower, and the rest of the political establishment. What made the confrontation unprecedented and magnified its impact was its gavel-to-gavel coverage by television. Thirty-six days of hearings transfixed the nation. With a journalist's eye for revealing detail, Robert Shogan traces the phenomenon and analyzes television's impact on government. Despite McCarthy's fall, Mr. Shogan points out, the hearings left a major item of unfinished business—the issue of McCarthyism, the strategy based on fear, smear, and guilt by association.

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2009

Reviews

[Elisha Condie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, my, this book was SOOOO interesting. So interesting. I heard the author on the Diane Rehm show and thought this book sounded good. Love that Diane Rehm.

This book focuses on McCarthy and how television played a major roll in his downfall. It is hard to believe that McCarthy got away with his accusations which were largely based on NOTHING! Nothing! But he became so powerful that his own Republican party members wouldn't stand up to him, nor many Democrats. Even President Eisenhower, while he thought McCarthy distasteful, didn't ever go so far as to disagree with him (until much later). And McCarthy and his evil cronies just kept on bullying people, always looking for Communists hiding within the government.

The author really explains the situation well, and how the Army v. McCarthy hearings were more about the characters than the politics, and television was the perfect medium to exploit that. On TV, the American public (45 million tuned in) saw the rude, ill mannered, goofy looking McCarthy trying to humiliate various respected Army personnel, and they just became turned off to him. Even while McCarthy was being censured by the Senate, it wasn't for his politics - and his disregard for civil liberties - it was more about his methods.

There were so many parallels from back then to today. How McCarthyism created a fearful society, just as terror alerts did later. So much name calling. Distorted facts. Members of political parties who don't want to dissent from a colleague in power even though he's a villain.

This was an enlightening read. The author explains things well, and I just thought the whole thing was good.

[Thomas Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the Spring of 1954, Senator Joe McCarthy was one of the most feared men in Washington. In the Summer of 1954, McCarthy had lost his power and no one was afraid of him. What happened in between was the Army-McCarthy hearings and why the hearings changed everything was because they were on TV. For thirty-six days, America got to see Joe McCarthy and what they saw they didn't like. His fall from grace in the eyes of America gave the Senate the nerve to censure him.

This is the story of those hearings but more it is the story of how television changed the world. The book starts with an introduction to McCarthy and how he came to power by using accusations of communism without actually finding any communists. It also introduces us to how early television covered the news and how the first televised Congressional hearings (the Kefauver organized crime hearings) changed how the public viewed Congress. But all this leads to a detailed look at the Army-McCarthy hearings and how McCarthy's massive ego led to his downfall.

The book is very well written by a journalist turned historian. Far from a dry historical outlook, the book is written as a fascinating, fast moving (less than 300 pages) view of a few short months of American history. Shogan then ties those events to today showing how TV news has and hasn't changed through Vietnam, Watergate, and 9/11. I can recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic.

*** Note that I received this book for free through the Amazon Vine program ***

[Ken Bronsil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty thorough treatment of the Senate hearings held over three months in 1954 to investigate charges that Senator Joseph McCarthy and his counsel Roy Cohn pressured the Army to give special treatment to a former staff member. By itself that doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but McCarthy had earlier drew huge amounts of attention to himself with aggressive accusations that Army personnel included many communists who were working to steal secrets in order to overthrow the government.

All this came after McCarthy had held hearings and publicly charged many citizens--writers, show business celebrities, and other well-known Americans--with being avowed communists, either presently or sometime in their pasts.

All this was played out on live television, which at that point had very little experience covering news stories. Network news broadcasts consisted of one person reading wire-service text--definitely not analyzing stories--so the hours upon hours of televised coverage contained all the testimony and very little else. But people watched it, day after day for three months.

So there's a lot to cover in this book, and Shogan does it thoroughly. In the process, because so many people were involved, he gives a lot of background about all of them. I can't say that he gives too much, but he frequently interrupts an episode or a story to do it.

Other than that, I found it a complicated but very interesting piece of history.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caveats: I was stuck between a 3 star and a 4 star rating, but I'll give Shogan the benefit of the doubt.

I selected this book to read because my library doesn't have a vast selection from the McCarthy era, that being said, I'm not disappointed I picked it up. The book can be read in a long day, it moves quickly and is adequately interesting for the brief time it takes. My major criticism of the book is that the thesis of the book, how the McCarthy hearings were televised and the impact of it, seemed to be lost during a few of the chapters. However, the backgrounds of some of the major players were interesting to read and the final chapter was an excellent conclusion for the thesis. Described also is modern media's role has grown...or not grown.

I'd recommend it to someone who wanted a brief history of the media's portrayal of McCarthy, or just a quick introduction into the era in general.

[judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A look at the title will tell you that this is two books in one. (The Army-McCarthy Hearings: A Demagogue Falls and (2) Television Takes Charge of American Politics). Neither book really works here but if each were a stand-alone with far more depth, both could be remarkable. There are excellent books on the hearings. As for how televising live proceedings can alter public perceptions of events (hearings, debates, trials etc.)--a lot more could and should be said.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine portrait of a troublesome time in American politics. Particularly relevant today with the rise (again) of so many nationalist demagogues around the world. I had hoped for more information about the "Hollywood Ten" however, the title does not promise that, I merely assumed it. I believe this trial is the lesser known story of McCarthyism in the 1950s.