Fellow Travelers

by Thomas Mallon

Tim shook his head and turned on the radio, not in any real display of anger, just to make plain that he couldn’t continue a conversation in this vein. Over the airwaves, the voice of Roy Cohn was explaining the toll that this past year had taken on his parents in the Bronx. Senator Potter, tape-recorded ten minutes earlier, was wishing him well. A statement from McCarthy’s office, just released and now being read by the announcer, struck a less forgiving note: “The resignation of Roy Cohn must bring great satisfaction to the Communists and fellow travelers. The smears and pressures to which he has been subjected make it clear that an effective anticommunist cannot long survive on the Washington scene.” Woodforde was smiling—over this formulation that might soon become McCarthy’s epitaph for himself—when a colleague from U.S. News stuck his head in the door: “Come on down. Flanders is starting his speech.” Woodforde waved for Tim to join them in the gallery. “Here’s something we can all agree on, no?” Still uncertain about the censure movement, Tim nonetheless felt glad of a truce and agreed to accompany the two reporters. He fell in step beside Woodforde, wondering as they double-timed it down the corridor why some part of him felt drawn to this left-wing provocateur. The gallery was more crowded than the floor. Democrats—worried about appearing overeager—were thin on the carpeted ground below press and spectators. But rhetoric was soon off to the races. Flanders invited ...