The last major American demagogue was Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who held sway over U.S. politics from 1950 to 1954. McCarthy gained power by harping on the political establishment’s alleged failure to oppose the Soviet threat and Communist influence.
McCarthy, like Trump, built on a real if thin empirical record. Communist efforts to subvert the U.S. government had been stopped by World War II’s end. Drawing on public anxiety about Soviet expansionism, McCarthy inflated the threat with false accusations and manipulation of the press.
Yet McCarthy fell as quickly as he rose (he was censured by the Senate in 1954 and died in drunken obscurity in 1957). Perhaps Americans tired of his antics: none of his accusations led to a criminal conviction for espionage, undermining his credibility. Or perhaps he overreached by attacking the U.S. Army, which enjoyed more trust among Americans than did his earlier targets, which included the State Department and Hollywood.
The end came when McCarthy was called to account by Army lawyer Joseph Welch, who attacked the senator during a televised hearing for engaging in character assassination against one of Welch’s colleagues. “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?” he famously demanded of McCarthy, to the applause of spectators.
McCarthy’s fate offers a glimmer of hope for Biden. Perhaps the American public can tolerate no more than four years of demagoguery. Many Trump voters do seem to have gotten the message that he has little to offer them except entertainment, and even that has been diminished by familiarity with Trump’s shtick.
And Trump, like McCarthy, may have overreached when he challenged the army: by threatening to deploy military personnel to American cities, Trump breached a norm that separates the military from politics. If Trump again tries to embroil the army in domestic politics—he’s backed off for now—Biden should call him to account for corrupting a respected institution.
But Biden’s best strategy would be to draw voters’ attention to the ways Trump has manipulated them.
Trump, like McCarthy, has exploited divisions between Americans, corrupted public debate with his lies and insults, and attacked valuable institutions, including the FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which Americans depend on. “Have you no sense of decency, Mr. Trump?” Biden should ask. The question answers itself. |
