The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American

by Andrew L. Seidel

In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, dragging the United States into another conflict halfway around the globe; Congress overrode Truman’s veto to pass the McCarran Internal Security Act, which forced communists and communist groups to declare themselves; the Rosenbergs were arrested for spying; Truman was nearly assassinated; and Senator Joseph McCarthy made a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, claiming to have a list naming either 57 or 205—it’s unclear— communists in the State Department.50 By 1953, McCarthy’s rhetoric and stature and increased, Stalin’s death had destabilized a nuclear superpower, and the Russians had successfully detonated their first hydrogen bomb, the largest weapon ever detonated. By 1954, the McCarthy hearings were in full swing.