Sam Roberts's A Decade Of Fear

Sam Roberts in the article A Decade of Fear argues that Americans turned against each other because of McCarthyism. Roberts supports his argument by explaining and describing the many occurences of paranoia caused by McCarthyism. The author’s purpose is to persuade the reader that McCarthy’s gross grab at power caused tension between Americans. It is clear that the author is directing his claims to an older and more educated audience, due to his cynical tone. I strongly agree with Roberts’ claim. McCarthyism created tension between Americans due to paranoia, patriotic influence, and greed. Clearly, McCarthyism influenced and allowed paranoia to settle itself within the American mindset. McCarthyism was the one key factor in revealing the Communist influence on American soil, and the detonation of the atomic bomb in Soviet Russia caused Americans to begin falsely

For example, others feel that McCarthyism created a safer America and protected it from Communism. However, it is clear that this is not true. In fact, Roberts states that “McCarthy never publicly revealed any list of alleged Communists.” which may mean that he never had a list at all (2). Another reason that others have a different view is because they believe McCarthy did what he did for the wellbeing of the American people. This is also clearly not true, as it has been proven that McCarthy accused others to gain political power. For example, McCarthy’s downfall was caused when he clashed with the army. Roberts claims that “McCarthy and his chief counsel, Roy M. Cohn, were accused of improperly using their influence to get preferential assignments for… David Schine, who had been drafted into the military.” (3). To sum this up, those who supported McCarthy had few rebuttals in regards to the turmoil he created in America. Therefore, McCarthyism stirred the pot and intensified the strife between