on May 31, 1954. Ike wanted to use the occasion to strike out in favor of freedom of thought, and his team of speechwriters prepared a soaring address, whose peroration was aimed clearly at McCarthy. “If we allow ourselves,” he told the audience, “to be persuaded that every individual, or party, that takes issue with our own convictions is necessarily wicked or treasonous—then indeed we are approaching the end of freedom’s road. . . . Our dedication to truth and freedom, at home and abroad, does not require—and cannot tolerate—fear, threat, hysteria, and intimidation.”
